Beautiful Miracles, Blessings, and Hungarian Goulash

Jennifer Viola and Laura Rita

Here they are, and I am sorry I would not take the pictures off the wall, or out of the frames, as getting them back on the wall is an all day task, LOL.

The OB tells us they are identical twins, he should know, he was there. The placenta was never tested, as it should have been, was somehow lost in the lab. I admit, at first I worried about this, as they looked so much alike, would I mix them up, feed the same baby over and over, wonder why one had to be changed so much more than the other?

Still in the hospital, I started breastfeeding the tiny babies. I had to learn how to get them latched on, as I was very busty. 40 DD, and their tiny faces and mouths were covered by my breasts unless I held the tissue back away from their face, and of course fed one infant at a time. It was during one of my initial breast feedings, Laura in my arms drinking from her mama, when the Pediatrician entered to tell me words no mother wants to hear, ever. Laura was born with a VSD ( Ventricular Septal Defect- a hole between the walls of the ventricular chambers of the heart ).

I nearly collapsed over that my baby hearing this, when the DR went on to say, that this is a common occurrence in identical twins, as they separated during formation. He also went on to say, hers was very tiny , and was not causing any issues at this time, we would be doing a wait and see approach and monitor her withe cardiology frequently as she grew. I still worried, but, felt a little bit better.

I put red nail polish on Laura's big toe when we took her home with her sister. I was not prepared for 2 babies yet, so, we place them in 2 drawers, and I attached the labels from the Nursery to them to help me KNOW who they were. I left their hospital bands on too, however, I worried they would fall off their tiny feet. We realized the reasons now this pregnancy was so different from my first 2. 1. the extra hormones from the twins caused the excessive vomiting. 2. as they grew within me, there was no room for the extremities to push against me. 3. the " beat " I felt in my pelvic area was Laura, who was born sucking her thumb. the sucking action , her hand moving back and forth with each suck, caused that rhythmic " pulse" I had felt. 4. The sono tech that did that " trouble keeping up with the baby" was tracking 2, just never realized it, since only 1 showed in each " picture" of the baby- babies) 5. The US in the hospital during my emergency, did not reveal 2 babies, as they were face to face and they were NOT looking for that, they were looking for the source of the hemorrhage.

When we brought them home, we were also told they had jaundice, which is common in newborns, especially premature babies, and is exacerbated by not getting enough fluids via feeding to flush out the bilirubin normally filtered out by the liver. Breastfeeding them also provided less fluids , at first, and we needed to supplement with formula for a few days. We had to bring them back to be checked after 24 hours, and we saddened that Jennifer's levels had gotten worse, and she had to be admitted to the NICU and put under the Ultra Violet lights in an incubator. Her jaundice worsened still. The Pediatrician called me back in , to have my blood tested for compatibility with hers, as she might need a  transfusion of adult blood. I am looking at that tiny beautiful life in that incubator, tubes in her body to feed her fluids, patches over her eyes to protect them from the UV lights, I touch her through the openings , and I pray.

The Pediatrician approaches me, one of his arms is in a sling, and the other holds the syringes and tubes to draw my blood as we are standing in a waiting area on a white tile floor. He draws my blood, and drops a tube onto the floor where it shatters, with my bright red blood spreading on that bright white tile. That was all I remember for a few minutes. They revive me, and then: I go into MOTHER mode. Christian Mother mode. Stand back.

Asking him what the procedure they planned for my baby entailed, brought chills to my heart. " We put her on ice to chill her down, then we drain ALL of her blood out, and transfuse adult blood in to replace it, therefore cleansing the blood of the bilirubin."  Back before WTF was used so commonly, my mind asked WTF?  How can she survive even a moment with NO blood in her body?NO, you CANNOT do this to her until she has a Baptism! Now, remember, I was originally raised Catholic, and in that religion, should a baby die, before a Baptism ( Christening), they retain the " Original Sin", and will not be admitted to Heaven, but instead go to " Limbo", a " place that is someplace between Heaven and Hell" that may or may not have pain or joy,  and may or may not let them achieve Heaven at some point, but, heck, I want my babies in Heaven. Hello? Get a priest up there right now, do not touch er until this is done. It was done.

Just before icing her down, they do another blood test, and................her blood is within normal limits, the jaundice is gone. ... let that sink in. gone. An hour ago. then Baptism, now gone. No ice, no draining out her life force, no adult blood, it is no more.  Breathing a HUGE sigh of relief, I thank my Lord and Savior on my knees, and I turn to the nice Jewish Pediatrician, and say. " See? The Baptism and  God saved her!"  He returns my joy and says, " Well, I ate Gefilte Fish with Matzoh ( Jewish foods)  for a snack in between, and THAT saved her! " We laugh in relief, and agree, either way, we have the same God, and he saved her. What is that I hear? Another miracle!!!!

We brought her home to join her sister, in the drawers by my bed, where I loved on them, and fed them, and we all go to know our new little girls. I fretted over Laura's heart defect: How would I know if there is a problem? Our wise Jewish Pediatricain,  said, " You have a built in thermometer, her twin sister. If they are not growing the same, if their coloring is not the same, if their energy and levels of activities is not the same. get in to see a Dr." I listened to their heartbeats with my ears, and noted Laura's heart did not sound like Jennifer's. Jennifer's made the " normal" Lub a Dub sound we all recognize, while Laura's did a " whoosh whoosh" sound, a very loud audible, that was the sound of the very tiny hole between those ventricle chambers. The tinier the hole, the louder the sound. Like whistling. when you purse your lips close together and blow, you hear a nice loud whistle. ( Well, YOU will, but, when I do it, I do not whistle, it's pitiful) If you open your lips wide, you get no sound.

I dressed my little treasures in the same outfits, but, different colors, to help keep them looking a bit different. After some time, I did not seem them as identical, I saw all the differences. I brought them to their DR appts regularly and got all their immunizations, and I brought Laura for her regular Cardiologist appts. We were once again blessed and her Cardiologist, was Dr Filipo Balboni, Chief Pediatric Cardiologist at St. Francis Hospital, which was known as The Heart Hospital , to us natives Not too shabby huh? I would bring both babies with me, of course, and he would try to do an EKG, but, Laura was not having it too often. She SCREAMED and cried like a baby, OK, she was a baby, but, still. He would first just stand back and observe. Then he would take 3 fingers, and place them over her heart . He would then step back, and say " She is doing fine. She is growing just like her sister,  if she was having any issue with the VSD, she would be unable to cry like that, she would run out of breath, or become cyanotic ( the bluish color of skin when deprived of oxygen). Her valves are working fine. ) He would go into some technical details as " felt by those amazing 3 fingers", and then send us to the Echo of her heart, and the report would come back to say exactly what he had said.. Amazing man.

Funny moment: Al and I had tickets to a concert, and asked my mother to babysit for us. Of course, she said yes. The night of the show, we bring our precious children to their Grandma's house, and my beloved mother, the mother of 6, looks at us after we set them down, and prepare to leave.." You are leaving BOTH of them here? "LOL LOL, my Mommy was nervous about 2 babies being in her care?
"Yes, Mommy ,of course!!" I still laugh at that moment, and miss her so much.

Other memories of my children growing up will come along in future blogs, with more miracles, blessings, and enough. More recipes, and inspiration for us all. Follow me to see where I go next!

Hungarian Goulash

Hungarian Goulash 

My mother asked me to make this for her often:)

2 pounds top round beef, cut into 1-inch pieces 

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1 large white or yellow onion chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced 

2 green peppers, cut into strips

2 tablespoons paprika 

1 teaspoon salt( add more as needed for serving)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks or small package of baby carrots

  2 bay leaves

1 (8-ounce) container sour cream( Optional, but, oh so good!)

Warm cooked buttered noodles or rice 

1 package of Friendship Farmer Cheese ( This is also optional, but a family favorite) 

Saute the onions in the butter or oil until softened, stir in the beef cubes, Paprika, salt, and pepper,  and saute until brown on all sides. Cover and continue to cook for about 15 mins, stirring occasionally to promote broth forming the liquid in the pot.

Add in the tomatoes, carrots, peppers, and bay leaves , stir and bring up to simmer. Cover and cook for about 45mins -1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Remove bay leaves and discard. At this point, you may stir in sour cream, or add to the top of the goulash on individual plates. Serve over buttered noodles or rice.

In our family , this ultimate comfort food, is served with buttered noodles, mixed with one 8 oz package of the Farmer Cheese, which is a form of Pot Cheese I cannot find here in Florida, ergo, we use the closest we have. Add a lil bit of salt and pepper to the noodles and cheese, and top with the Goulash.

Farmer Cheese by Friendship

Pot Cheese found in some parts of the country, just not mine

This dish is traditionally cooked with potatoes in the stew, but, as we prefer the noodles with this dish, and potato in my Beef Stew... That is what I gave you, LOL.

Buy from Amazon through my links, and any funds I earn go to No Kid Hungry. Org.