Our Son Greg

When Greg was born in 1978 things were a lot different than they are today. We were lucky that expecting complications we were sent to UCLA medical center for our prenatal care and for his delivery. After a diagnostic amniocentesis my water broke at 34 weeks, and we knew that his lungs weren't mature enough for him to be born. So I was hospitalized in Los Angeles waiting for complications to set in. This was really difficult because I had never left Jenny, except to go have Julie and never Julie at all. Jenny was not even 3 yet and Julie was only 18 months old. My mom and sisters took the girls and Gene came up to LA everyday, to spend time with me. They drew my blood every 4 hours, watching for signs that we couldn't wait any longer to deliver the baby. If my white blood cell count got to high they were prepared to give me an emergency C- section at a moments notice. But that didn't happen and because my water had all leaked out they couldn't monitor the baby's billirubin count any longer, so they couldn't tell how he was. It was very crazy. The doctors didn't even know what to do, so they put it on us, a 24 and 28 year old non-medically trained emotionally confused mommy and daddy. We could just continue to wait, which in hind sight would have been the better option, or induce labor and deal with the baby on the outside. Making a long story a little shorter, that is what we did and when he was born he had respiratory distress syndrome. In 1978 that could be fatal. They took him to the NICU immediately and Gene was told to go with them. They told Gene that he needed to prepare me for fact that our baby's chances of making it through the night were not very good. His lungs weren't ready for the outside world yet. He was hooked up to all kinds of monitors, positive pressure was pushed into his lungs and he was given oxygen and an IV was even hooked up to his umbilical cord. Then they took me in to see him. It was awful, Gene and I immediately went to the hospital chapel to find solace and peace. We called our families and someone came to help Gene give Greg a priesthood blessing. The next day they sent me home, saying that I didn't need to stay, but Greg did. Talk about baby blues, I didn't even get to hold him for 5 days. But we traveled to UCLA everyday, scrubbed in and reached into the isolate to touch and try to comfort and bond with Greg. It was a very heart-wrenchingly, long week.


My Premie Greg.
But when he turned the corner it was fast and he was ready to eat. This is the first time I got to hold him. I wanted to nurse him but they had to monitor the amount of fluid he took in so we had to use a bottle.
Being the nursing crazy mommy that I was, I had rented an electric breast pump to make sure that I could nurse my baby when I brought him home. (Gene has even gone as far as to refer to me as "the Nursing Nazi" how rude!) But I had plenty of milk, and when the nurse told me they were giving my baby formula, I just about freaked out. I said, "what about all of the milk I am bringing in for him?" They told me that breast milk is like gold and was used for the littler, weaker, sicker premies, they hoped I didn't mind. It was O.K., because I had been told that we were going to be able to take our baby home the next day, after a week in the NICU.


Finally Home where he belonged. That ordeal was a growing experience for us and we learned to trust in Heavenly Father more fully, and our gratefulness for the priesthood increased.


Here's our boy, just a few months later, all caught up in size and development. We are so grateful for the opportunity to be his earthly parents and for the blessings and joys his life has brought to our family.
His life has not been easy, but he continues to magnify every calling or challenge he is called on to accomplish
Can you tell I love my boy?