Bette Midler by Mark Bego

Bette Midler by Mark Bego

Author:Mark Bego [Bego, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cooper Square Press
Published: 2002-11-26T08:00:00+00:00


15

A DIVINE NEW PLATEAU

Bette acknowledged that she had undergone amniocentesis during her pregnancy, but she didn’t want to know in advance whether her baby was going to be a boy or a girl. “I want a surprise. And that’s what I’m going to get. I’m sure my baby will be divine. If it’s a boy, I hope they don’t saddle him with ‘Baby Divine.’ Oh my, I’d have to send him away!” (8).

Bette was never alarmed by the audible ticking of her biological clock—she was too busy with her career and her life. “I was caught up in my superwoman thing. Now it’s sort of like waking up from a dream and seeing that everyone wishes to be in our shoes. It’s so surprising because I never had that hankering to marry and have children. Well, I got married at thirty-nine. I’m having my first baby. And anybody can do it. It’s true!” (110).

After all the horror stories that Bette had heard about first pregnancies after the age of forty, she was pleasantly surprised by how uncomplicated it was for her. “Talk about being struck by lightning—I haven’t had any morning sickness or any of the stuff they keep talking about. I have shortness of breath and I tend to waddle and I can’t sleep on my stomach anymore, but that’s it” (110). She did suddenly develop cravings for certain things to eat, though. “I hardly ever eat sweets,” she explained in her fifth month. “But since I’ve been pregnant, I crave them. I thought it was a joke, but I really crave ice cream—vanilla. I’m very plain” (18).

Although it was originally predicted that she would give birth on October 27, it wasn’t until Friday night, November 14, 1986, that the divine moment occurred. She had an eight-pound, eleven-ounce baby girl. It was several days before Bette and Harry settled on a name.

While she was contemplating baby names, she had commented, “I like Bob Geldof’s baby’s name: Fifi Trixibelle. But my husband says when she’s forty and she’s a librarian and a spinster, she’s not going to be so happy with Fifi Trixibelle!” (18).

Seemingly, just as Bette’s mother had named her for her favorite movie star—Bette Davis—she named her daughter Sophie the name of one of her favorite stars: Sophie Tucker. However, Bette begs to differ.

“Her name is Sophie, and there’s a reason. Sophie means wisdom” (120). Her daughter’s full name is Sophie Frederica Alohilani von Haselberg. How is that for a mouthful? With regard to how she chose the name, Bette says, Sophie (“not for Sophie Tucker”) Frederica (“for my father, Fred”) Alohilani (“Hawaiian for ‘bright sky,’ which is what I always wish for her”) von Haselberg. After Sophie’s birth, Bette gushed to the press, “I adore her. Her face swims before me when she’s not there, and I think about her before I go to sleep at night and I dream about her, and I wake up and I can’t wait to see her” (20).

Prior to her pregnancy, Bette had been talking seriously about raising a family.



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