USD Magazine, Spring 1999

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ALUMNI 0

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of Court, Louis Welch chapter, and also has been chosen to be in Who's Who in Am erican Law fo r 1998-99. Deborah and her husband, Les McDonald 'Bl (J .D .), live in El Cajon, Calif.

19&1 CLASS CHAIR Hugh Swift

CLASS CORRESPONDENT Lisa Sill 10720 Ohio Avenue, #1 2 Los Angeles, CA 90024

UNDERGRADUATE ALUMNI Kevin McCarthy is president of Arizona Tax Research and has been married 17 years to Michelle. The couple have five children : Sean, 13, Sh annon, 11, Brendan, 11, Ryan, 11 , and Erin, 9 . ... Anthony Romano is an attorney specializ– ing in real estate, estate planning, business and personal injury. Anthony and his wife have five children.... Maria (Howard) Ticse has been married to H oward fo r 15 years and has three children : Jason, 11, Matthew, 9, and Samantha, 6. GRADUATE AND LAW SCHOOL ALUMNI Roger Heaton (J.D.) opened his own law firm in N ovember 1998 in San D iego, specializing in personal injury and insur– ance law.... Pauline Renner (M.Ed.) is an administrator at Sharp Memorial H ospital and has two sons who graduated from USDH S. UNDERGRADUATE ALUMNI Jeanne Canton-Luna, who with husband, Carl, has four girls ages 14, 11, 8 and 5, substitute teaches elementary school in the San Diego area. Jeanne and her family will be living in Russia for a year while Carl teaches on a Fulbright grant. ... Judith Graven has five sons, ages 15, 14, 13, and twin s, 5, with husband, Steve. Judith is a housewife and sports fan in North Carolin~.... John Haynes is a teacher in the San Diego Unified School D istrict and has two daughters, Jannette, 10, and Shauna, 4 , with his wife, Shirley. ... Megan Mahoney is on staff at the 19&2 CLASS CHAIR R ichard Huver

Lori Abbott '85 with Midulal, laft, and Kannath

SPATIAL DELIVERY

Michael was only 12 inches long and weighed 1.8 pounds. He was rushed to intensive care, but not before Abbott got a brief look at him." He could fit in the palm of your hand ... his skin was so thin it was translucent." As doctors worked to build Michael's strength, Abbott, 36, concentrated on keep– ing Kenneth from making his debut. As each day went by, Abbott's room filled with doctors, interns and med students hoping to be part of history. "Part of it was interesting, making medical history, but I would have rather had some precedent," she says. After three weeks, Abbott developed a fever, and, fearing infection, the doctors induced labor. Kenneth soon appeared, weigh– ing 2.2 pounds and measuring 14 inches. Abbott and her husband, Robert, went home to Coto de Caza, Calif., three days after Kenneth arrived. The twins (they are fraternal, not identical) were released from the hospital at the end of June. As they prepare to celebrate their first birthday, older brother Michael weighs about 13 pounds, while younger brother Kenneth tips the scales at 18 pounds. But doctors say by age 2 they should be the same size, with no lasting effects from their unusual birth. As Abbott readies for a busy April - two birthday parties and Easter, she sighs - she steels herself for another round of story– telling. Despite her protests, it seems to be one story she really doesn't mind repeating.

ori Abbott '85 can't wait for her twin boys to learn to talk.Then, she figures, they can tell the incredible story of t heir birth, a birth so unusual it landed her in t he pages of medical history, her twins on t he pages of California newspapers and t hrongs of curiosity seekers at her bedside. When Abbott gave birth to twins Michael and Kenneth, she did so three weeks apart. Michael on April 9, 1998. Ke nneth on April 30, 1998. It is believed to be one of the longest intervals between he althy twin deliveries in the country. "It wasn't the best reason to be in the spotlight, but thankfully everything turned out a ll right,'' Abbott says. "But as soon as they learn to talk, I'm telling them the story so I don't have to tell it anymore." For now, however, Abbott indulges the curious. She begins her story in March 1998, when 23 weeks pregnant she went into pre– m ature labor. Knowing the babies likely would not survive such an early delivery, Abbott's physician admitted her to UCI Medical Center in Orange County with orders for drugs t o stop the contractions and com– plete bedrest.That meant no walking, no standing, no sitting up. " I had to learn to eat lying on my side," Abbott confesses. After 12 days, one of the babies' legs dropped into the birth canal and the fetal heart monitor started to slow. Doctors couldn't wait any longer. "Three pushes and Michael came out," Abbott says," and everyone held their breath that Kenneth wouldn't come out."

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