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After sending the story to Aurora, it occurred to me that others might be interested in dolphin-children, so along with the link to Paula's article (above) I'm posting some stories about Amelia here as well. (I'll add to it as we go along!)

In 1990 I was newly divorced, had just read my first 'new age book' and I began getting information about the birth of my daughter...(not that I was even remotely open to having another child, I might add!!)

At the time I didn't think of myself as 'psychic,' but I night I woke up at 3 a.m. and was clearly given her name (Amelia Rachel Noelle) and told she was to have her own identity...(no 'family' last name) and that I was to swim with dolphins when I became pregnant with her. I thought I was 'hearing things' (!) so I didn't mention it to anyone, but I still felt compelled to research dolphins and birthing underwater.

In 1996 I discovered I was pregnant, and that it's illegal for pregnant women to swim with (captive) dolphins in the U.S. So I sold my car and went to the Yucatan where I camped on the beach, and ended up at a place called X-Caret, an ecological theme park. It was the beginning of my 4th month and I was given permission to swim with 'my own' dolphin every day.

The dolphin's name was Ixchel (the Mayan Goddess of Fertility) because at the time she was one of two dolphins in the world to give birth to a surviving baby (the other was in Florida). In any case, I swam every day of the 4th month of my pregnancy with Ixchel. (Interestingly enough I was curious why the 4th month was the only time I was "allowed" to be there and discovered that the 4th month is when ALL the major development of the fetus is taking place...organs, skeleton, brain etc...after that it's just growth.)

At the end of my fourth month, there were some complications with insurance issues at X-Caret. Though I knew the owner's wife, I didn't try to change this, and ended up going to London where I gave birth to Amelia underwater. It was an amazing experience and I found myself spontaneously 'toning' (singing on one note) when I had contractions. It seemed to remarkably ease the pain.

Amelia has a beautiful singing voice and can perfectly match a pitch. When she was about two years old she started spontaneously toning in the bath tub with me. I thought it was just the accoustics of being in the tub, but recently it struck me that not only are we in water, but in a way, dolphins are toning constantly.

By the way, I recently asked Amelia what she remembered about her birth. She said, "Mommy, I remember I could breathe underwater." Which of course was true because she was still attached to the umbilical cord!

Needless to say, my daughter is a dolphin-person! I see it in her personality totally. Without being coached Amelia swims like a dolphin. And at 5 she could float on the top of a pool, swim down 12' and pick a quarter off the bottom of the pool...then she'll do her 'dolphin' swim back to the surface.

(Amelia 18 mo.)

Though this looks like a commissioned watercolor of Amelia I actually found this piece by an artist named Sachi. (To see more of her whimsical art work click on the link below the picture.)

Amelia so badly wants to be a 'mermaid.' On several occasions she had my husband wrap her legs together in green cloth, then pick her up and lay her in a tub full of water!! And even though we bought her two different costumes for Halloween, when the day came, all she wanted was to be wrapped in her green cloth and go as a mermaid. When I mentioned that she wouldn't be able to walk, she said brightly, "That's okay, Dad, can just carry me around at school!"

From a personality point of view I see Amelia's dolphin spirit as well. She'll walk up to anyone, anywhere and strike up a conversation, or she'll walk up to any child on the playground and ask if they want to play with her.

Though she's very rambunctious and playful, she's also deeply sensitive and compassionate toward others. She is magnetically drawn to people who are handicapped or physically hurt, even children who are unpopular. She clearly reads people energetically and is either completely drawn to someone (and will often hug a total stranger!) or she's totally repelled, and won't go near them.

When Amelia was barely three-years old she started going to a Montessori school. Because of state regulations children have to wear shoes in the school at all times, and the teacher, Irma Martinez, told a very sensitive 3-year old girl that she simply had to wear her shoes. The little girl was quite saddened and sat on the floor staring at her shoes with tears welling up in her eyes. Amelia immediately stood up to her teacher and very indignantly said, "Mrs. Martinez! You've hurt her feelings! Don't you see how sad you've made her?"

Irma told me that in the 25-years of owning the school she'd never seen a three-year old with this level of compassion or with the ability to stand up to an authority figure on behalf of another.

Then Irma said, "And you know what? Amelia was right. I was busy and had turned my back on the little girl after telling her to put on her shoes. And it wasn't until Amelia brought my attention to her that I realized I had accidentally hurt the child's feelings."

Another dolphin similarity I noticed has to do with play. Dolphins LOVE to play. And when I was swimming with Ixchel her favorite game was to teach me a game and then change the rules. For instance, one day she taught me to play fetch. I'd throw a water toy called a 'noodle' for her and she'd bring it back. After doing that a few times, she changed the rules by bringing it back, but delivering it just a few inches beyond my grasp. As I'd reach for it she'd snatch it away just before I could get. Then she changed the game again, and wouldn't give it back at all. Instead she'd swim as close as she could past me, very slowly, then take off as I'd try to grab the noodle.

Amelia is exactly the same. No matter what game you teach her, within a few minutes she has to change the game. For instance, if we're playing a game of catch, she's dead-on accurate with her throws, but she'll get bored and start throwing it over my head just to watch me run for it. When I finally realize she's doing it on purpose, I tell her that the next ball that goes over my head is HERS to go fetch. So she continues throwing it over my head (clearly delighted that I've managed to create a new game) and she's equally thrilled to keep running after the ball herself!

Like dolphins, Amelia's very athletic and totally fearless. I've never seen a child her age, boy or girl, who can do what she can. For instance, at 5, she wouldn't allow me to teach her how to swim. She kept insisting, "I can do it myself." And she did! Nothing fancy, but she propelled herself through the water until she made it to the side.

When she was barely three years old she started horseback riding, and absolutely insisted she wanted to ride without anyone holding the horse. And though she only rode about once or twice a year, by the time she was five she could walk, trot and canter as if she'd been riding regularly.

When Amelia was almost 6, she was playing with a computer game where she created a mermaid fountain in a courtyard. My husband, Don, said, "Amelia that mermaid is you!"

Amelia said indignantly, "I'm not a mermaid, I'm a dolphin!"

I chimed in, "Okay, Amelia, I'll be the mermaid."

Amelia exclaimed, "Mommy 'ohana' means family. I'm a dolphin so YOU'RE a dolphin too!"

That was it...end of discussion! (Ohana is the Hawaiian word for family.)

The summer of 2003 (we were living in Salt Lake City, Utah) I began having dreams of swimming with a pod of dolphins, and visions about moving to Hawaii. Within a day or two of the first dream, Amelia started climbing in bed with me each morning saying, "When are we going to the ocean? When are we going to go swim with the dolphins?"

It made quite an impression because I rarely talked with her about dolphins or the ocean, yet somehow I'd always known we'd have to live near dolphins. The following summer we moved to Maui, and Amelia now swims with wild dolphins at La Peruse Bay!