To Love, Honor and Cherish

by Timothy Paterson

Chapter 10

  Just as the song finished, Mary and Joe heard a scream from upstairs. They both ran upstairs. They heard another scream. It came from Betty’s room. When they entered the room, Betty told them that she had gone into labor. The baby was not due for another two weeks. Joe called 911 for an ambulance. He was told that it would be at least thirty minutes before they could get someone there. Betty told Joe that the baby was coming.

  Joe remembered that his mother had kept some sterile obstetrics supplies in the house, in case there was an emergency delivery in the neighborhood. Joe told Betty that he had read his mother’s books and had seen films about delivering a baby and that he could help her deliver the baby, if she trusted him enough. Betty said that she did.

  Betty was scared. She had given birth to six babies already and she sensed that something was wrong this time. Joe tried to calm her down and slow her breathing down.

  By this time, all of the other kids were awake. Joe told Matt to wait in front of the house for the ambulance. He told Mark to take the rest of the kids downstairs to the playroom.

  Mary got some warm blankets for the baby, in case it was delivered before the ambulance got there. When she returned with the blankets, she saw that the baby was coming out.

  Joe helped guide the baby out. It was a girl, but she was blue and was not breathing. Joe cleared out the baby’s mouth and gave her little puffs of air. After a couple of minutes, the baby began to breathe on her own and then she began to cry. Joe cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the baby in a warm blanket.

  A few minutes later, Joe and Mary saw something that surprised both of them. They saw a shoulder of another baby trying to come out. Betty did not know she was carrying twins. Joe knew that the baby could not come out that way. He gently pushed the baby back in and helped guide the head out. Within a few minutes, the second baby, another girl was out and crying loudly. After cutting the cord, Joe wrapped the second baby in a blanket.

  The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. The paramedic said that it took a while to get there, because there were many emergency calls and there were a few paramedics out sick with the flu.

  The paramedic did not have a partner with him, so Joe insisted on riding in the back with Betty and the babies. The paramedic said it was against policy. Joe insisted that someone needed to stay with Betty and the twins and finally the paramedic agreed. Joe told Mary to watch the rest of the kids and he would call from the hospital.

  Joe noticed that Betty was bleeding rather heavy. He applied abdominal pads and pressure and put ice packs to her abdomen to slow the bleeding.

  Betty worked at St. Luke’s Hospital, but San Francisco General Hospital was a lot closer. Betty was still bleeding heavy and had already lost quite a bit of blood. Joe was very worried.

  Betty lost consciousness and Joe told the paramedic to head for San Francisco General and go as fast as he could. On his cell phone, Joe called the labor and delivery floor where his mother had worked. He was in luck. The nurse who answered the phone was Mrs. Phillips, who had been one of his mother’s friends.

  Joe explained the situation; that he was in the ambulance with two premature babies weighing about five pounds each, and a woman that was bleeding heavily, had already lost a lot of blood, and had lost consciousness.

  When the ambulance pulled into the ambulance bay, there were three doctors and several nurses waiting for them. They put the babies into incubators and took them to the neonatal intensive care unit. Then they took Betty up to labor and delivery. Joe went with her.

  When they took her into surgery, they told Joe he had to wait in the waiting room. Joe told the doctors and nurses, to do whatever they could to save her, no matter what the cost.

  Joe sat in the waiting room and prayed to God to help Betty through this ordeal. The children needed her and so did Joe. Joe called Mary and told her to get the kids to sleep and to stay home from school the next day to watch John and Paul until he got home. Then, Joe called a neighbor, to look in on the kids the next morning.

  After waiting three hours, a doctor came out of surgery and told Joe that Betty was going to be ok. She had lost a lot of blood and was given several units of blood. They had stopped the bleeding and she was now in recovery.

  The doctor asked Joe about the delivery and Joe filled him in with what he had done and the details of the delivery. The doctor told Joe that if he had not been there, Neither Betty nor the babies would have made it.

  Then, the doctor put his arm around Joe’s shoulders and told him, “I worked with your mother for many years and I was so sorry when she died last year. I know she would be so proud of you and the man you have become.”

  It was six o’clock in the morning before Joe was allowed to see Betty. Before he went to see her, he called Mary to tell her that her mother and baby sisters were doing fine. Then Joe left a message with the school explaining that Mary would not be in school that day and asking them to give Mary’s homework assignments to Matt to take home to her.

  When Joe went into Betty’s room, he could see that she looked exhausted. As soon as she saw Joe, she perked right up. Then Betty started to cry and said “Joe, they told me that if you hadn’t been there and taken charge of the situation the way you did, that my babies and I would not have made it. I can never thank you enough.”

  Then she added, “Joe, if it’s alright with you, I would like to name my daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, after your mother.” Joe smiled and said; “Mom would be pleased. Thank you.” Then Joe told Betty to get some rest and that he would be back later that afternoon with the kids, to see her and their new sisters.

  After Joe left the room, Mrs. Phillips and a few of the other nurses that had known his mother, came up to him and hugged him. They told him what a great job he did. Mrs. Phillips told Joe that his mother would be very proud of him.

  Joe went to the nursery and took pictures of Sarah and Rebecca and after changing into a hospital gown, he held the girls and the nurse took a few photos of him with the twins.

  When Joe arrived home by taxi, Mary ran out of the house to find out how her mother and baby sisters were doing. Joe told her that all three of them were fine and showed her the photos. Mary grabbed Joe and would not let go. All of her emotions from the past several hours came out and she started crying. When Mary finally let go, she told Joe that he looked terrible. He had not slept in almost 30 hours. Joe took a shower, changed clothes and slept for four hours until the kids got home from school.

  When dinner was over, Joe took the kids to see their mother and baby sisters. When Mary saw her mother, she gave her a great big hug.

  After Betty had hugged the rest of her kids, Joe took them outside the room so that Mary and her mother could talk. Betty told Mary that if Joe had not been there, she and the babies would not have made it. She thanked Mary for helping at home that day. They talked for a few more minutes and then she said that she wanted to talk to Joe in private.

  When they were alone, Betty said; “I had a long talk with my nurse, Ruth Phillips today and she told me some interesting things about you. She said that you inherited millions of dollars from your parents. Why didn’t you ever mention it before?”

  Joe replied; “Because, I want to be treated as a normal person, judged on my character, not how much money I have. Very few people know how much I am worth. When I donate money to charity, the recipients agree to keep it confidential.” Betty told him not to worry. “Your secret is safe with me, Joe.”

  After Joe and the kids saw the babies, they went home. Joe helped them with their homework. Matt had brought home Mary’s homework and Joe helped her get caught up.

  Later that evening, Joe sat down with Mary and Matt and told them that their mother would need a lot of help around the house when she brought home the twins.

  No one had known that Betty was carrying twins and it
was a surprise to everyone. Matt and Mary both said that they would help as much as possible.

  Joe had arranged to take off a week from college and work, while the babies got settled in and Betty was stronger.

  After Matt had gone to bed, Joe and Mary sat up for a while longer and talked. Joe looked at Mary and saw that she was very sad. “What’s wrong Mary?” he asked. “Mom told me that if you had not been here, that she and the babies would have died,” said Mary. “Thank you for saving their lives. I love you for that. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost my mother.”

  Mary started crying and hugged Joe. Joe held her for a while, until her tears subsided and then told her that everything was fine now, and that she needed to get some well-deserved rest.