Krisann

When we found out that we were having a baby girl everyone was excited, but we had one problem. What would we name her? All of the older girls had been named after flowers, but I'd used all my favorite flower names by this time. Still, it seemed important to continue this tradition so the baby wouldn't feel left out.

The baby was due the second week of November 11. That was exciting, because in our whole, huge family, there were only two people with November birthdays; Grandma Johnson and my sister, Linda. That made me think about using a family name, like Katrina or Christina, but they weren't flowers.

“We could shorten Christina into Chris,” I suggested one day, “and add Anne as a middle name. Chris Anne could be short for Chrysanthemum.”

“But you didn't let any of the rest of us girls have a middle name,” Alyssa pouted when she heard that suggestion. “It won't be fair if you let this baby have one.”

She was right, but I was having a hard time thinking of anything else. I found the name Kiley in a name book, which said it was a Jewish flower, and I kind of liked it, but I wasn't really sure. It didn't help that we had six older children, each with their own favorite names.

In the end, we came up with a simple plan. If the baby was born with dark hair, I would choose her name. If she was blond, the girls could choose. If she was bald, the boys got to decide, and if she was had red hair, Moe would get to name the baby.

About three weeks before my due date I began to wonder if my amniotic was leaking. I called the doctor's office and tried to explain to the nurse, but she wasn't very excited.

“Just wait until your appointment with the Doctor tomorrow,” she told me. “He can check you out then and see if your fluid is leaking.

My appointment was scheduled for 11:30 the following morning, but about 8:30 his office called and asked if I could come in early.

“Sure,” I told them, thinking it wouldn't make much difference, but I hadn't counted on babysitters. Mom was planning to take care of Kami for me at 11:30, but she had gone to run errands earlier. With no other options, I finally strapped Kami into her car seat and brought her with me to my appointment. She was a good year-and-a-half year old, and the nurses enjoyed seeing her.

When I got in to see the doctor I told him I thought my water might be leaking, but he didn't think it was.

“You're almost ready to have your seventh baby,” he told me consolingly. “You're bladder isn't as young as it used to be, and it probably is just leaking, but I'll check just to make sure.”

He had a different opinion a couple of seconds later, as soon as he began to check the baby. My water broke.

“Well, that decides that,” he told me. “You need to go to the hospital immediately.”

“Immediately?” I asked him, looking over at Kami who was sitting on a chair, swinging her feet. “Can't I take my daughter home and find a babysitter first?”

“No,” the doctor said decidedly. “You need to go straight to the hospital. This baby could come at any time.”

I tried to call Moe, but he wasn't in his office and I had to leave a message. I tried to call mom, but she wasn't home yet. In the end, I buckled Kami back into her car seat and drove the two of us down to the hospital.

It felt kind of funny, checking myself into the hospital, holding Kami on my lap. It was certainly not the way most expectant mothers came in.

Moe got there about ten minutes later, and mom came down right after that to take Kami home. The nurses hooked me up to an IV with pittosin, and I started having contractions before long. A nurse came in a little while later to fill out some more paper work and asked if I was going to have an epidermal. I hadn't even considered the possibility before. After all, I'd had all sixolder children naturally. But all of a sudden it sure sounded like a good idea.

It was the most amazing thing. Once I'd been given the epidermal I didn't feel a thing! Moe and I visited for awhile, I slept a little, but it hardly felt like I was having a baby. By 7:00 I'd begun to think I wasn't going to have the baby until the next day, but not long after 8:00 the nurse came in to tell me the contractions were getting stronger and longer, even though I couldn't feel them. By 9:00 I could tell I needed to push, at at 9:11 our sweet baby girl was born.

“She's got red hair!” the doctor exclaimed as soon as she was born, and she sure did. She looked just like a shiny copper penny, and she was adorable.

“Well,” I said, turning to Moe once the nurses took the baby away to clean her up, “what is her name going to be?”

“Krisann,” he pronounced with a big grin. “Krisann, spent with a K and all one word, but still short for Chrysanthemum.” And so Krisann got her name.