Alice's Restaurant ~ Dishin' Up Food for Thought

Alice's Restaurant ~ Dishin' Up Food for Thought ~~~ A place to share what I am thinking, reading, feeling & contemplating as I travel on this journey called life.

Monday, August 8, 2011

34 Years Ago Today OR Happy Birthday Jamie!

Thirty-four years ago today was a busy, happy, scary day for me.  Let me start back to July 1977 ~ it was time for Ron to take vacation and we wanted to go to California.  We were stationed at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV.  I was seven months pregnant.  Ron said to check with the doctor.  I did and told a little white lie "he said I could go."

10 days later we made a quick return from Bakersfield, CA to Las Vegas, NV as I started having contractions while we were traveling.  (rememeber the little white lie).  The day after we returned to Las Vegas I went to the doctor.  He checked me over from top to bottom and after a big sigh he said "You are doing fine.  deep breath on his part.  But I need you to go get some x-rays.  I am picking up three heart beats and I just hope one of them is yours."  Silence, gasps, and what??? went through my  mind.  I walked out of the doctor's office, told Ron we needed to go to the hospital and why.  He responded with laughter, what?, oh my.

So we went to the hospital.  I had x-rays taken.  Convinced the gal taking the x-rays to leave them on the counter.  Fortunately I had worked with her at a radiologists till I was about 3 months pregnant.  She left the x-rays on the counter and walked out.  I held them up and just gasped ~ there were two little feet directly across from a face.  I walked down the x-ray with my eyes and what do you know another set of little feet and a cute face!!!  Yes we were having twins.  I walked out and held up two fingers on each hand.  The lady sitting next to Ron said "four babies?"  and with my eyes bulging out I whispered "no two babies."

We walked to the truck and just looked at each other.  We then drove to the Silver Nugget where my mom worked and told her.  And the wheels started turning.  Within one week we had moved out of our apartment and into my mom's house (we had orders to Holland and she thought it might be easier to move in with her and have the military pack us up there + she would then be around to help with the babies).  And then Saturday, August 6th arrived.  It was in the evening and Ron and I were watching Yours, Mine and Ours in our bedroom.  I kept getting up to run to the potty ~ like every 5 minutes.  With about 3 minutes of the movie to go, I swung my legs over the the outside of the water bed and then realized I was sitting in a pool of water.  Ron's quick observation:  either the water bed broke or my water broke.  After summoning my mom from the kitchen and with Ron and my mom standing there, she said "Get up.  If it's the bed, the water will stay in the frame, if it's your water bag there will be quite a rush of water."  You got it ~ I stood up and water was everywhere.  I ran, as quick as baby huey could waddle, into the bathroom.  Ron called the doctor.  He said come to the hospital right away.  And so we arrived at Women's Hospital about 11:45 p.m.  I was admitted.  Nothing happened and about 10 a.m. on Sunday morning the doctor came in, prescribed some cortozone shots to develope the babies' lungs and told me not to go anywhere or do anything and that included having the babies' before Tuesday. 

Well late in the afternoon I started  having contractions.  To say the least emotions were running high.  The babies were 8 weeks early - way too early to be born.  About 9 p.m. they closed one of the two delivery rooms and readied it for the twins to be born.  We were told they could come any time.  Without going into lots of details lets just say I don't do labor and transition very well.  At about 11:30 p.m. Ron overheard one of the nurses tell another mom of a patient "I don't care if your daughter delivers that baby in the hallway, she is not going in that delivery room - it is set up for the twins and will stay that way till they are delivered."  Ron told me "I was special" - you bet your sweet baby I know I am special :)

About 1:45 a.m. on Monday, August 8th I was taken into the delivery room.  I pushed, pushed and pushed some more and Royce Alan Workentin was born at 2:21 a.m. weighing in at 4 lbs 8 oz., 18" long  WARNING - the next part might be too graphic for some of you!   Immediately following Royce's arrival my cervix closed back up and the doctor said "good, I can stay pregnant tilll the next one comes along."  About 15 minutes later the 2nd baby's heartbeat went erratic and the doctor said they were taking the baby now.  I was given gas to knock me out and Ron says what happened next - the doctor stretched me, reached in and pulled out a very BLUE baby boy - Ronald James Workentin, JR arrived at 2:41 a.m. bluer than blue jeans.  He weighed 3 lbs 12 oz, 19 1/4" long His apgar score at 1 minute was -1.  Immediately I was brought back awake, got to see Jamie (he looked like an 80 year old wrinkly and boney old man) and he was stablized and then transported to Sunrise Neonatal Hospital.  It was and still is one of the best in the United States.  We were proud parents of two little bitty baby boys! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!!!

**Note:  I will continue this story tomorrow and thru the rest of this week**