Updated March 05, 2015.

....and what a long night it was! An epidural (successful on the 2nd attempt) was applied around 3:00 A.M. - just one of countless pokes and prods that I endured. The pressure finally became so intense that the doctor (who actually got a decent night's rest at home, the night before) decided to break Twin A's water around 10:00 A.M. Twin B followed suit on his own around 12 P.M. Suddenly, the pace picked up dramatically.

I was packed up, and taken to the OR. The OR somewhat resembled a passenger terminal, with both of my doctors, 4 nurses, 2 student nurses, a neonatalogist, and an anesthesiologist - all fighting for space with my husband. Throughout the pregnancy, I was told that a C-Section was inevitable, because of "Twin B's" position. Surprising us all, he turned during the 35th and 36th weeks, and the babies came naturally (accompanied by some amazing forceps-skills exhibited by our chief doctor), on May 8, 1996. Twin A, Genevieve Adele, was born at 1:11 P.M.; Twin B, Geoffrey Alexander, who followed for the final time in his so-far brief existence, came along at 1:17 P.M. Daddy took them to the regular nursery (no NICU!), where Genevieve weighed-in at 6 lbs. (18 1/2 in.), and Geoffrey: 5 lbs. (17 1/2 in.). Geoffrey soon became taller and weightier. Our pregnancy of many difficulties produced a couple babies without many difficulties.

Geoffrey & Genevieve are now 9 months old (as of mid Feb. '97).

We've all been sleeping through the night (except for my night-owl husband) since around 6 weeks. Since about 4 to 5 weeks, they've gone with us to the library, book stores, record stores, computer stores, the mall, restaurants, parties - pretty much every place we've always frequented in the past. Actually, they haven't yet made it to a symphony concert, though that can't be too far off! (They're already vocalising-along to Richard Strauss's "Tod und Verklarung!") They're now sitting, standing, crawling and generally covering an impressive number of square feet! Of course, they usually head in opposite directions, though recently, they've really begun to interact with each other. As they progress in age, they increasingly solidify their position of the two brightly-shining beacons in our lives - a true blessing.

Cynthia Davis
Feb. 16, 1997