Sometime during the spring received the exciting news that we were about to have not one, but two new grandchildren. "Twins, Wow!" Linda said. "She's going to need our help." We started to think seriously about moving closer to our children and grandchildren. It would take several trips to find the home we wanted.
It was in late July, as we driving to El Paso on the first leg of our Western Swing, when we received a text message from Claire, "xx xx." It took a bit to figure out that this was the chromosome pattern of the twins. Two girls! More female cousins for Kai, the chick magnet.
It was late summer, we were back in Austin following our trip through the west, when Claire called with the news. During a routine ultrasound at week 20, the radiologist noticed a problem. One of the girls had an anomaly in the development of her kidneys. Instead of the normal development expected at that stage, she had cysts.
We learned more later. Amniotic fluid is produced mostly by the fetal kidney function. Without the kidneys working correctly, there is little fluid. As a result, the lungs don't develop properly, and the child cannot breathe when born.
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Violet and Scarlet shortly after birth
Inthe waning days of 2011, after an unsuccessful attempt to induce labor, the twins were delivered by C-section at about 1:30 pm on the 30th.
Claire and Ron named the girls, Scarlet and Violet. Scarlet wasn't really named for the Grateful Dead song Scarlet Begonias, but it's a nice plus. The names turned out to be especially appropriate as you can see from the photo taken shortly after their birth, Scarlet is rosy-cheeked and robust; Violet, even with oxygen, has trouble breathing and is a bluish hue. It turned out that Violet had several other problems besides the kidney and lungs we already knew about. She could not live long.
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Jim and Scarlet at Rancho Relaxo
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Scarlet Sleeps with Linda
We had a chance to hold Violet and Scarlet before leaving Claire and Ron alone with the newborns. Sometime during the night, Violet reached the end of her short life.
Scarlet is thriving: gaining weight rapidly, and doing what infants that age do, eating, sleeping, and filling diapers. She is, naturally, just about perfect. She has learned to recognize Nana and Granddad and sleeps on their shoulders.
