I Believe in Miracles!

Thirty-one years ago today, I was the recipient of not one, but two miracles.  My twins, Pam and Pat, came into my life.  As a gestational diabetic, my pregnancy was "at risk",  but the fact that I carried twins added to that risk.  I was already in the hospital when I went into labor.  When the nurses and doctor finally believed me, my contractions were only 4 minutes apart.  Call the ambulance, rush her to Pittsburgh.  The doctors were able to stop my labor that Wednesday night, and gave me injections to mature the babies lungs.  So far, so good.  But on Friday, they were not able to do so.  I was prepared for the fact that my babies were probably not going to survive.  They should have weighed about a pound each.  Because of my diabetes, they weighed in at 3lb.4 oz. and 3 lb. 6 oz.  I cook chickens for Sunday dinner that weigh more than that!  Baby B was caught under my ribs, the doctors said that they could deliver Baby A and then knock me out to deliver Baby B by section.  At my request, I was given a saddle block so that both babies would be delivered by section, but with no ill effects from anesthesia.  As they made the incision, my uterus tore and Baby B popped out (Now she was Baby A), the bigger of the two.  And then one minute later, Baby A (now baby B) was delivered.  They were given a 10% chance of survival.  And the waiting began.  Pam (Baby A) did pretty well.  But for Pat, it was a different story.  Her one lung collapsed twice, her heart stopped twice, she needed blood transfusions twice.  We were prepared for the possible results of high concentrations of oxygen -- mental retardation, cerebral palsy, or blindness.  However, my miracles beat all the odds.

Today, they are the most amazing young women.  I never forced them to dress alike (except for school pictures), they never shared a birthday cake.  I did all that I could to encourage them to be individuals, not carbon copies.  And I succeeded, pretty much.  It's amazing how many days Pat gets dressed and leaves for work while Pam feeds the horses, and at the end of the day, they are wearing identical outfits.  More times than I can count, one calls me from work and immediately the other one calls.  (one works at home and one works in the office)  They took their SAT's in different rooms, and came up with identical scores.

They tell you the same stories at different times.  Raising these two was an experience that I'll never forget.

They have been on both of our Disney trips, and we have so much fun together.  They are completely devoted to their sisters, their nieces and nephews, and of course, to Rod and I.

Yes, I believe in miracles, and as the caption on the photo says, dreams come true.