Tomorrow is a very special day! Since tomorrow is Monday, I am posting this today. IN HONOR OF MY SON, GIB AND MY BABY SISTER, JENNIFER ON THEIR 31ST BIRTHDAYS JULY 1 ~ I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! Twins By Fate Looking back, I can see God’s intricate handiwork ~ His plan ~ His design. Something so special and incredible and odd at the same time happened and none of us saw it, at the time, for what it was………a sweet, sweet blessing. Two different lives, different plans, different ages entwined together by life itself………a journey that continues ~ although separated by distance ~ to this day. It was October 1981 and I was staring at the store bought pregnancy test, trying to get the nerve up to use it. Panic was creeping into my thoughts, along with fear of how everyone was going to react if it was true. I knew in my heart that is was true even before the test proved positive. Against my mother’s wishes, I had gotten married 2 days after high school graduation and, now, a year and a half later, we were having a baby. We both had good jobs and were buying our own little house, so baby was the natural next step, but a BIG step. Were we ready for the responsibility? Oh well, silly time to wonder about that. After I called my husband, I called my Daddy. He said, “Hello” and I said, “Hey, Grandpa!” I was the oldest of four girls, so this was probably the first time he was called Grandpa. He caught on immediately and seemed sincerely happy about it. He said my Step-Mom wanted to speak to me. She got on and congratulated me, but told me she had been trying to get pregnant and really wanted to have a baby, hopefully, before one of us did. I had no idea! She was 12 years Dad’s junior and she was 10 years older than me. I apologized that things hadn’t worked out as she had hoped and wished her luck. Little did I know that within the month, she, too, would be pregnant! Now, this felt a wee bit strange, but we all did the best we could to enjoy it. My Daddy already had 4 girls, so, of course, he was hoping for a boy. Ann, my step-Mom, said many times, “This is a boy”, pointing to her belly and “That is a girl”, pointing to my belly. I did not care whether mine was a boy or a girl, but I really hoped Daddy would finally get his boy. Ann was due July 23 and I was due June 12. We were due just 6 weeks apart. Neither of us knew what we were having. Back then it was more a less an educated guess. Dr. McKeithan ~ one of our doctors ~ was very good at guessing. He was sure I was having a girl. “The heart beat is very fast”, he’d say, “it’s a girl!” In spite of all the baby showers I had, I only received 2 things for a girl. We decorated our nursery in a variety of colors, suitable for either boy or girl. We all took Lamaze Birthing Classes and prepared our bags and lollipops for the births of our babies. June 12th came and went. June 19th came and went and still no baby. I was way past ready and very swollen with toxemia. Ann was coming along fine. Her due date was still a ways off. Back then, they let you go until you were ready. Around 11:30 pm on June 30th, I began to time the contractions that had set in. They told us in Lamaze not to go to the hospital until pains were less than 5 minutes apart. That happened about 4:00 am and at 4:30, we were at the hospital getting prepped. Some time in the next couple of hours, I heard a voice in the hallway say, “Hey, whoa, back up!” Looking towards the door, I saw Ann being wheeled backwards to my door in a wheelchair. She, too, had been admitted to the hospital last night and they were inducing labor! We laughed and hugged and wished each other luck. It was comforting knowing she was just down the hall. It was not as comforting to her, as she says to this day, that all my yelling and screaming made her stop having contractions and forced her to have a c-section. I hope that’s not true, but I simply couldn’t help it! My Daddy ran back and forth and back and forth ~ keeping us posted on each other’s progress and keeping the packed waiting room informed too. I had a difficult time and feel like I owe my very life to Cousin Kitty, who stopped by and held my hand and coached me though. Finally at 3:32 pm, my baby was born. Dr. McKeithan, who had predicted I would have a girl, proudly exclaimed, “It’s a red-haired little boy!” To which I replied, “No way!” because I thought he never made a mistake. But, he held him up for me to see for myself and then laid him on my chest for a moment. Gib was the most beautiful, perfect baby I had ever seen. I thanked God for him and that I had lived through it. That evening, in my room, Daddy came in and said Baby Jennifer had been born at 8:22 pm and had a head full of black hair. He did not seem sad at all that she was not a boy. Again, I was so grateful that she and Ann were all right. The next day, we strolled several times to the nursery and overheard people explaining, “That one is that one’s aunt!” Dr. McKeithan said he couldn’t remember a man becoming a grandfather and father on the same day. We were the talk of the hospital. After we went home is when the real bonding began. Ann and I called each other constantly to discuss preparing bottles, sleeping, anything about the babies. On their first birthday, we got them each a little cake and just let them dig in. We had many birthday parties and cookouts together. They played and grew up fishing and eating fresh fruit from Dad’s orchard. We watched movies and took day trips and it was quite wonderful. They were raised like brother and sister until they became teenagers and chose to spend more time with their friends. Over the years, we have told this story hundreds of times. Our “babies” turn 30 this year. Jennifer is in Utah. Gib lives here and is raising his own family. They stay connected on Facebook. Ann and I just marvel at the whole amazing chain of events and believe that only God could plan such a great journey and we are so grateful for it!
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 13:07:07 +0000
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