‘Vacation’ Finally Ends for Premature Twins’ Mother

A three-month stay was not in the Kubicheks’ plans when they came to California for an eight-day vacation. But neither was the birth of a pair of premature baby boys.

“We were very surprised” by the births, said Ann Kubichek, who left Orange County Wednesday to return to her Brillion, Wis., home today with the stronger of her twins. “It took us some time to get over the shock.”

Ann and Scott Kubichek arrived in San Francisco on April 13 with plans to drive down the coast and return home from San Diego on April 21. But their plans changed suddenly when Ann, six months pregnant, went into labor in Laguna Beach on April 17.

Midnight Helicopter Ride

After a midnight helicopter ride to the UCI Medical Center in Orange, doctors could not postpone labor any longer. On the morning of April 18, Ann Kubichek gave birth to a pair of twin sons 14 weeks early: Joseph, who weighed 2 pounds, 3 ounces; and Michael, who weighed 2 pounds.

The Kubicheks stayed with Clista Stephens, a Tustin resident who opened her home to the new parents.

Scott Kubichek, 26, found a job pumping gas at a nearby gas station, and the couple spent time with their sons each day.

Joseph was released from the hospital two weeks ago when he weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces. He now weighs 5 1/2 pounds. Michael weighs 3 pounds, 13 ounces, and will have to stay in the neonatal unit another two to three weeks, said Ann Kubichek, 30.

She’d Like to Stay

Although she would have liked to stay until Michael is strong enough to go home, Ann Kubichek had to return to Wisconsin this week, leaving her husband to remain with their other son. “The place I work for doesn’t have it in their hearts to let me stay with my husband,” she said.

Though Ann Kubichek hadn’t meant for her children to be born here, she said that if they had to be born prematurely, she is glad they were born near the UCI Medical Center because of all the specialized neonatal personnel and equipment there.

“They probably wouldn’t have made it” had they been born in Wisconsin, she said.