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First there was JC... and then there were THREE!!
At 5am on the morning of May 20, 2010, Clara woke up knowing that this was a morning like no other. After 9 months of patiently waiting for their little bundle of joy to arrive, it was finally time...
From the very beginning, Clara had what most would call a 'perfect pregnancy'. She didn't have any morning sickness, and apart from the usual tiredness that comes with bearing a child, Clara lived her usual active and inspired lifestyle without any problems. She was in the studio teaching and dancing 6 days a week, going to the gym and continuing with her usual conscientious diet. In fact, Clara taught all the way up until the night before the delivery, gaining a total of only 20 pounds during her whole pregnancy.
As Samantha was developing in the womb, she kicked often, especially when there was loud and exciting music playing. In fact, Clara felt her very first set of strong kicks on the evening of the SnowBall Classic dance competition. During her time inside Clara's belly, Samantha attended several competitions and was even at 'Burn The Floor'! Some say that she had already started her dance training even before she was born!
After 9 long months of waiting, it was finally time... On May 20th, the morning after the last session of the Rising Star Squad (the day on which Mom & Dad had hoped their baby girl would avoid), Samantha Rae Xin (睿欣) Marasigan entered the world. She was born at 11:42am, 5 lbs 9 oz, with a full head of hair!
Clara had a speedy delivery with the help of Joel and her mother Amy by her side. Using her heightened core strength and various breathing techniques from her dance training, Clara brought their baby girl into the world within 7 hours of the first contraction! Joel & Clara's teamwork really showed, as Joel coached her through her breathing (yelling: Impact breath! Think Tango!). Even the nurses were thoroughly impressed, remarking on how well they worked together as a team.
The delivery went so quickly that there was not even any time to administer pain killers. Needless to say, this was more of a Quickstep than a Slow Waltz labour!
Whether it was from all her dance training, her super-nutritious diet or just plain genetics, no one knows; but in any case, Clara bounced back from the pregnancy and delivery in no time at all. She was back in the studio teaching her very first lesson (Pro-Am) only 11 days after Samantha's birth. It's hard to keep Clara away from the studio, even though she adores looking after her beautiful new baby girl.
Apart from a crazy first few weeks, baby Samantha has become quite the little angel and has brought endless joy to Joel, Clara and their family and friends. To her parents delight, at around 2 months old, Samantha began sleeping through the night, averaging 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. She is definitely living up to her name: Xin (欣), which means 'joyful', with her constant smiles and laughter.
Following in the footsteps of her parents, Samantha has already started travelling about. Frequent stroller trips through the neighborhood, visits to the Ballroom, exursions to Granville Island and guest appearances at the various dance events have kept this little girl (and her parents) very busy.
Although Samantha has already started her kicks & flicks and is not at all camera-shy, Joel & Clara don't have any hard and fast plans on making her the next Ballroom Dance Champion. Samantha is just having fun being a baby and exploring her wonderfully interesting world of people, sights and sounds.
Joel and Clara are taking the same approach to parenting as they do in their teaching. They are slowly finding out what Samantha wants to accomplish and gently guiding her along the path that life leads her on, without forcing her to do anything unnatural or forced.
As Joel and Clara have always believed, dance and life are one and the same. Together, the three of them are ready to conquer the world in love, life and dance.