Tuesday's Trip Down Memory Lane Part 2

One week before the boys "arrived" we decided to take a drive up the coast to get me out of the "studio apartment". Kind of a test run to see how long it would take us to get to the hospital in South Laguna. Twenty minutes, not bad at all. On the way home, we stopped to get some black licorice for me and a coke for Corky. I was chomping on licorice as he was trying to start the truck. It would NOT start!! "We'll have to jump start it." He'll push, I'll pop the clutch. We've done it many times before, times when I could get behind the wheel! To drive this old truck, left foot goes on the clutch, right foot goes half on the starter pedal on the floor and the other half of foot on the gas. I had to sit sideways to get behind the wheel and still reach all the pedals. He pushed the truck, I popped pedals, NOTHING. It was 10:00 at night and thank God the parking lot was empty. We did this maneuver three more times before he yelled out in his last dying breath "Are you sure you have the key on?" Uhhh I think as I look down and turn the key on, "Of course I have the key on, I am pregnant, not stupid!" He pushed and BINGO, it started! He got back in the truck dripping wet, poor guy and we headed home. It was years before I admitted this to him.

Fast forward to a week later and we are wide awake playing dominos at 11:30 on a Tuesday night and I walk through the kitchen on my way back from the bathroom and I feel a hot gush of water and see a puddle on the floor. Corky in his sweet state of all things denial says perhaps I had an accident.:) I tell him I think my water broke. "What now?" he asks. Call the doctors office and we get the exchange and tell her that my water broke and what should we do next. "Wait until the contractions get to be about 5 to 6 minutes apart and head for the hospital. And Dr. White is on vacation so Dr. Stoney will meet us there." WHAT??? I waited until I was 5 1/2 months along to get Dr. White to deliver me. I was so bummed. We kept playing dominos, waiting for the contractions that never came, just a backache that was getting more intense by the moment. At 2:30 am on Wednesday morning, we called the exchange and said we were headed to the hospital. We loaded up the "wicker laundry basket", the baby afghans my grandma crocheted, one blue-one pink, wishful thinking on her part and headed out. Dr. Stoney met us after I was all settled in and said he was so excited to be delivering his first set of twins. Hooray for you bud, I wanted Dr. White to be there. I was dialating nicely and I was sticking to my natural childbirth mantra of NO DRUGS!! I had back labor so every contraction felt like my back was going to snap. Around 5:00 am I was starting to think about drugs alot, I mean really wanting them!!:) Corky kept saying "no drugs babe, you are strong, you can do it." He was only doing what I made him swear he would do. By 7:00, in a deep growling voice from somewhere deep within me, I politely DEMANDED something to ease the pain. No epidurals back then, just a spinal block. And who do you think walked in the door right after this happened?? DR. WHITE!!! Yep, he called the exchange to see what was happening and found out I was in labor and came to my rescue:) :) Dr. Stoney was so bummed! I was so numbed from the waist down, and we went to the delivery room. One of the babies would be breach, we didn't know which one. Just push and wait for a head or a foot. It seemed normal to me at the time. I pushed for about 20 minutes and at 7:28am Josh's head popped out and we had our first boy. It was the first time I saw Corky cry. So sweet. Josh weighed in at 7lbs. 3ozs and was 20 inches long. Dr. White asked if I wanted to push and try to get the second one who was breach to turn around. "I have a choice?" Yes, I can push or he can go in and get him. "Go get him!" He reached in, turned him around and delivered Eric head first. He weighed in at 6 lbs. and was 19 inches. I love this doctor. Nowadays, they would have thought he was barbaric in his approach but I am so glad he was my doctor. Two healthy big boys and Corky was crying and amazed. No NICU, no nothing. No cell phone to get the word out either:) My breastmilk came in the next day and the boys picked up on it right away. Friday morning we were wheeled out to the truck and we placed our wrapped babies in the wicker laundry basket (yep, no car seats required:) and headed home to our studio apartment. We pulled up to the curb, took our "treasures in a basket" in the house and shut the door. There was only room for one crib that fit in the corner 2 feet beside our bed. We put both babies in the crib, sat down and waited for our next move, whatever that was going to be.:) Ignorance was such bliss back then I have to tell you. I jumped in the shower that felt like heaven on earth. And I will stop here for today and do part 3 tomorrow.

One gift a girlfriend gave me would become the most valuable gift ever. It was 4 sturdy springs that screwed into the legs of the crib, like shock absorbers on a car. Whenever the babies would move, the crib would rock in a soft back and forth, side to side motion, putting them back to sleep. I had a string tied to the bars and during the night would gently tug on it to get a few more minutes of rest before the feeding began.:)

Have a beautiful day today and count each and every one of your blessings. I have so many more as I look back and realize how blessed my pregnancy was, really.:)

Love and Hugs, Laurie