I wrote this a year ago for the boy's 18th birthday. Today they are 19. They are each doing well in their freshman year of college: Frank at Milwaukee School of Engineering and Mike at Carthage. Each year my love grows for them. Happy Birthday guys!
Tomorrow is Frank and Mike's 18th birthday. The overwhelming feelings I have regarding my boys turning 18 include pride, angst, enthusiasm and elation. I have loved them every minute of their lives, especially when I was disappointed, angry and frustrated with their actions. I remember the circumstances of their birth and how stressful it was for Mike and me.
The story begins in April of 1993. Mike and I had been married for about 2 years. For Valentine's Day that year, Mike gave us a trip to Hawaii and we went in April. We wanted to celebrate just being a couple together before we started parenthood. We packed in a lot of fun and sun in that trip even though we were sick for the first day we were there. When we got home, I stopped taking my birth control pills.
Mike's sister, Lorie, came to visit us in Palm Springs a couple months later. She was with us when we found out I was pregnant. She and I like to reminisce about Mike dancing around the condo singing "I'm gonna be a daddy!" We went out to dinner to celebrate and we toasted to the first Rizzo grandchild. Just water for me. :)
At four months, the same day of my first ultrasound, Mike and I went crib shopping. We found some beautifully expensive crib and sheet sets. We went to the ultrasound without purchasing because we wanted to shop a little more first. One of the decisions we made before the ultrasound was not to know the sex of the baby. During the procedure, the nurse asked us if twins run in our family. Mike replied, yes in his family. She said she thought there were twins and the doctor confirmed it. We immediately changed our minds and wanted to know the sex of each. I was working for Domino's at the time and Mike and my boss, Jose kept joking that I was carrying twins. To this day, I believe this twin thing was some sort of Italian/Mexican curse...okay, not a curse; blessing. God had shown me favor by blessing this perpetual tomboy with two boys. Mike was overwhelmed and had to have a drink at lunch. He eventually got comfortable with the idea and we went back to the store and bought two reasonably priced crib and sheet sets.
Not much really changed during the rest of my pregnancy except I had to take two prenatal vitamins instead of one. They always made me nauseous and taking two made it worse. I had to pull over during a pizza delivery one time to puke out the door. Mike's brother got married in Vegas during my pregnancy and I got sick there too. I found out it wasn't as bad if I didn't take them on an empty stomach. At seven months (about 30 weeks), I was forced to stop working. This provided me with lots of time to learn about the cause of multiple pregnancies. Fraternal twins, like mine, are cause by two eggs being fertilized during one pregnancy. Two eggs meant this would have to run in my family for it to be hereditary. What I learned is that when you stop taking birth control, it initially has the same hormonal effect as taking fertility pills. That explains that!
In December of 1993 Mike was working tirelessly for Baker's Square. He was responsible for managing both the restaurants in the area. I was about 32 weeks and had to go to my OB appointment without him. My blood pressure was high and I was sent out to the waiting room to relax and try to lower my anxiety or I would have to be admitted to the hospital. What a brilliant idea; give me an ultimatum like that to lower my blood pressure. Of course, I couldn't lower my anxiety and the blood pressure remained high. My multiple pregnancy was now complicated with the possibility of Preeclampsia. It was two days after Christmas; Mike was working constantly and there was no family within 1000 miles. I had a double Amniocentesis procedure to determine if the babies' lungs were developed enough to deliver them. They were not so I was given steroids to accelerate their growth. I spent a week confined to that hospital room on forced bed rest and a low salt diet. Thank God for college football bowl season! The Badgers beat UCLA in the Rose Bowl! My friends and Mike came to visit as often as they could.
On January 2, 1994 I had another double Amniocentesis. That night I was informed that the babies still needed to cook a little longer. I went to sleep dreading having to spend more lonely time waiting for these babies to be born. I was awakened early the next morning by a nurse asking me if I was ready to have these babies. I was confused but she reassured me that the follow up test showed that the babies were developed enough to be delivered. I called Mike and told him he needed to get to the hospital. He was equally confused but also really excited. He got there in plenty of time to join me in the OR for my noon scheduled surgery. As I was being taken into the OR, we were informed that there was no anesthesiologist available and we had to wait four more hours for one. I was literally half way in the door! Mike and I spent the time waiting together watching a movie and trying to rest. The anticipation was killing both of us. We were ready to meet the boys.
At 4 o'clock, we were taken to the OR again and this time we made it all the way through the door. The anesthesiologist was terrific. I was given an epidural spinal block and was able to remain conscious for the entire Cesarean section. During the operation the doctor joked how every time he came to visit me I was watching football or ESPN. It made me laugh and blood squirted out of my incision. Frank Emanuel was delivered at 4:30 p.m. PST and Micheal Allen two minutes later. They were cleaned and wrapped and laid on my chest. I still get emotional when I think of the moment we first looked into each other's eyes. Love poured out of me toward them. After a couple minutes, they were taken to NICU and I was taken to recovery. I battled a terrible itch from the epidural and a little bit of postpartum depression for a day or so. I spent another three days in the hospital, Frank another eight and Michael another eleven. Frank had an Apnea monitor for the first 9 months and Micheal battled a small infection while in NICU. Otherwise, they are perfectly healthy. What a blessing.
We were fortunate that I didn't have to return to work and I was able to spend the first part of their lives as a stay at home Mom. We moved back to Wisconsin and I began driving school bus when they were three. Mike and I have based their child rearing on enjoying our children at the age they are while they are that age. We chose to stop at two mostly because of me but I think we are both content with that decision. Last night I was watching TV with them and I looked at each of them. I still felt that overwhelming feeling of love pour out of me like the day they were born....only 18 years stronger.
Happy Birthday Frank and Mike!
Love, Mom
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