23 years ago today, I was holding new born twins who had chosen to arrive into this world 6 weeks early. I'll never forget those hours. My water broke in the wee hours of the morning. We were pretty frantic. Bless our sweet neighbor's heart - we woke her up to ask her if she thought we should go on to the hospital. She had her doctorate in nursing so we figured she would know what to do. So . . . off to the hospital we went. The funny part of the story is that Mark was driving a company car and he did not want me to get 'ANYTHING' on the seats. So before I, a woman in labor, could get into the car, he had to put plastic garbage bags on the seats. I remember thinking and maybe even saying, "I think I've changed my mind." I don't think I want to have these babies. I also remember worrying about whether or not they would be ok. I was on modified bed rest and had been up and down all day ironing the curtains for the nursery. I would iron for five minutes and then lie down.
We arrived at St. Vincent's hospital about 2:15 a.m. and were admitted and quickly whisked to a room. There was a TV on and Mark remembers that there was an old Rock Hudson movie on. Our doctor came in to do an ultrasound and kept watching the movie instead. I loved Dr. Lewis. He was the sweetest man. They checked the heartbeats and the heartbeats were identical - beating totally together. They hooked me up to a drip and did all that kind of stuff and checked on me, etc. Finally, around 9:00 a.m. they decided that one of the babies was in distress and they needed to do an emergency C-section. Back then, it wasn't all done in the same room. I was rolled down the hall to an operating/delivery room and Mark was sent in the other direction to get on a gown and get washed up. I received a "spinal" for my anesthesia and Mark said he heard me scream all the way down the hall. I have NO MEMORY of that scream!! They started the operation and Laura was born first. As a matter of fact, they nicked her face with the scalpel - she still has the tiny scar today!! Laura was not breathing. The cord was wrapped around her neck. Mark said that she was as "blue as a new pair of bluejeans." They worked on her and quickly hooked her to some oxygen. Glenn was next and all was well. Laura weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces and Glenn weighed 5 pounds and 7 ounces. (and yes they were 6 weeks early)Laura was 19 inches long and Glenn was 17 inches long. (Now they are both very tall!!) I remember feeling so surprised that I had boy/girl twins. I had never considered that option. I had aunts who were twins and Mark is an identical twin so I just knew that I would have two of the same gender. After delivery, my blood pressure dropped drastically and they had to work on me a few minutes. Soon we were able to see our sweet babies. I remember feeling totally overwhelmed and under prepared. They would roll those carts with those babies into my room and I would say, "Could you bring them to me one at a time?" Doesn't that sound silly now? I also had such a hard time telling them apart while we were still in the hospital (Unless they were diaperless!!)
This middle-aged mom is so proud of both Glenn and Laura. They are 23 years old today and they are great young adults. They both have graduated from Auburn and are working on their Master's - Glenn in Auburn and Laura at UAB. The thing that makes me proudest is that they know Jesus. Actually, not that they "know" him but that they have an intimate relationship with Him. Maybe even more . . .is that they serve him by doing for others - leading Bible studies, etc.
Over the years, we've seen the pediatrician a million times, the orthodontist more times than you can imagine. We've seen speech therapists and oral surgeons. We've been to eye doctors. We've been to piano lessons and dance lessons and gymnastics lessons and Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts and guitar lessons and baseball and church league girl's basketball games. We've driven at least a million carpools. We've been on many wonderful youth choir tours together. We've had friends over. We've attended church and sunday school together every sunday of their lives before they went off to college. Looking back, I think we provided a good life for our kids. Looking back all those times were priceless.
Wow - I'm a middle-aged mom and they are 23 years old today. Thank you God for the gift of Glenn. Thank you God for the gift of Laura. Thank you God for this their special day.
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