Once in a blue moon
Holmes child born in conjunction with rare events
By Christina Gould
Staff Writer

Once in a blue moon is a phrase loosely used to describe a rare event.
The expression stems from when there is a second full moon in a month,
called a blue moon. While the extraordinary image is seen every couple
of years, it is unusual to see one on New Year’s Eve.
While many counted down the minutes to midnight Thursday celebrating the
ringing in of year 2010, with a blue moon hanging in the winter sky, the
Holmes family was experiencing what they believed to be a “once in a
blue moon” event.
As televisions were tuned into Dick Clark’s Rockin New Year’s Eve show
to watch the ball drop at Time Square in New York, 32-year-old Jacinta
Holmes was working on her third hour of child birth.
With husband Jeremy, 33, midwife Heidi Stearns and assistant midwife
Stacey Hayden by her side, Jacinta welcomed the couple’s new baby girl
into the world at 2:02 a.m. at their home.
Being the Holmes’ sixth child, it wasn’t so much having a baby that was
out of the ordinary, but rather that it was the town’s first baby of the
year as well as the decade.
“It was funny, because last summer when we learned Jacinta was pregnant
… we commented on when the baby’s due date (Jan. 2) was,” Jeremy said.
His wife chuckled.
“We thought, wouldn’t that be neat” if the baby was born on New Year’s,
she said.
With baby Faustina Marie, who was born at 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 20
inches long, cradled in her arms Jacinta sat on the couch in her living
room Monday morning along side Jeremy and the other five Holmes children
– Rose, 9, David, 7, Isaiah, 5, Regina, 4, and Teresa, 2. Stearns and
Hayden were also at the home during a check-up on baby and mom.
“She was named after a Polish author, Faustina Kowalska, who’s writings
were personally important to me,” Jeremy said. “She is a Roman Catholic
Saint, as well.”
As she was the fourth daughter in the family, mother and father said
they were happy, but surprised. Two ultrasounds showed the baby was a
boy one time and then a girl the next time.
“We knew it would be one or the other,” Jacinta said with a laugh. “We
were happy either way.”
Another thing the Holmes was happy about was finding a midwife in the
area to deliver their bundle of joy. All but Rose were delivered at home.
“We’ve done it with all of them except the first one,” Jacinta said. “We
were in Austria at the time and things were different there. He (Jeremy)
was in graduate school and we were living in dorm. …We didn’t think we
could do it in the dorm.”
Jacinta said she prefers delivering her children in the coziness of her
home.
“I am more comfortable that way,” she said.
Jeremy agreed.
“It gives us flexibility,” he said. “I caught the last three babies.”
Stearns laughed.
“He is a really good baby catcher,” she said.
Having had home deliveries in Florida and Wisconsin before coming to
Lander almost two years ago when Jeremy took a teaching job with Wyoming
Catholic College, the couple feared the laws in Wyoming would cause a
problem.
“The laws are tighter here and there are fewer midwives,” Stearns said.
Luck came to Jeremy and Jacinta.
The week the two learned they were expecting, Hayden had posted an
announcement of her and Stearns’ services on Lander Talk. With Stearns
living more than two hours away in Walcott, near Interstate 80, there
was concern she wouldn’t be in town when the baby arrived.
Coincidently, Stearns had been in Lander when Jacinta needed to be
checked throughout her pregnancy, so the couple never had to travel to
see her.
More coincidently, Stearns was in Lander at a friend’s house for New
Year’s when Faustina began to make her way into the world.
Stearns “was actually staying three blocks from our house,” Jeremy said.
“It turned out really neat,” his wife added.
And not only was the event a special occasion for the Holmes, but it
also was memorable for Stearns as it was her first baby she delivered.
“I’ve been in practice for a year now,” she said.
With another one added to the family, big sister Rose said it’s exciting
her baby sister will forever hold the title of Lander’s first baby born
in 2010.
“I really love her,” she said.
When Faustina gets older, she will join her brothers and sisters for
home school, which is taught by Jacinta.
“She has a full-time job,” Hayden said.
The comment made the stay-at-home mother chuckle.
As for what Jeremy and Jacinta predict what Faustina will look like when
she gets older, they predict similar features as their other children.
“She does have a lot of hair now,” Jeremy said as he touched the tiny
pink hat on his daughter’s head. “And we are guessing brown eyes.”