Wonderful. Amazing. Beautiful.
These are the words that best describe my experience in becoming a mother and parent.
I find myself so incredibly blessed to have these two little angels in my life.
As most of you know, we delivered our twins on October 17th via a scheduled cesarean section (just two days before our 9th anniversary!...talk about an anniversary gift!).
Henry James was born first at 9:04 a.m. and weighed 4 lbs. 4 oz. He was immediately wrapped and brought over to be by my side. Two minutes later at 9:06, Kylie Nichole was born and weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. She was taken to the nursery to have some skin on skin time with daddy while I was getting stitched up.
The nurses and staff at the hospital were very generous to us, and let us use a deluxe birthing suite as our recovery room. This was an extra special treat since generally family and friends aren't allowed in the recovery room. They knew our situation was special because of little Henry's condition, and not knowing how long he would live, allowed the family to come be with us as soon as they were born. When the family came in to greet us, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was so special to have all the family there to shower love on our new little babies.
There was a large window next to us that provided some beautiful natural light for some professional photographs. These photographs taken by Terri Fairbanks Photography, which you will get to see....very soon....are absolutely stunning, and beautifully capture our first moments with the babies. Thanks to my best friend Valerie Tingey for providing the photography as a gift to our family!
Now back to the babies.
Henry James was given a name and a blessing immediately after his birth by his father, uncle Paul, and grandpa Scott. He was such a sweet and precious little baby. He had a soft and short cry, usually had his eyes closed, and loved to blow bubbles from his mouth. He made cute little grunting and cooing noises, and was showered with love by the family, visitors, and the nurses. We attempted feeding him and giving him as much comfort and nourishment as possible.
Kylie is small, sweet, and just as perfect as I imagined she would be. She was brought to me with dark, curly, thick hair. I was surprised that it was curly at first, but after they bathed her, it turned straight. I was beginning to wonder where the curly part came from!
We were able to have both babies with us during that first night, which was such a special time for our little family. However, I did find it incredibly conflicting to have to decide which baby to attend to first. I wanted to take care of them both, but knew that Kylie's needs were more immediate and demanding. This was the hardest part about that first night in the hospital. I was able to spend some quality time with Henry during the night while Kylie slept in her bassinet. That was a very special time for us.
The next morning, with most of the family present, little Henry's heartbeat became more and more faint. When we thought we could no longer feel it, we called in the doctor, and they called the time of death at 11:43 a.m. Even though I knew this moment would come for the last 7 months, nothing could have prepared me for the aching I felt in my heart. We had a family prayer after his passing, and it helped us cope with the loss of our little son. The staff at the hospital was so comforting and encouraging, and we had lots of friends and family visit us. The nurses took some cute photographs of the twins, a hand impression of Henry, and put it in a cute keepsake box to take home.
Our experience bringing our sweet babies into the world was perfect, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was a joyous yet heartbreaking experience, but the best part of it was knowing that these little babies are ours, and they always will be. Life is good, and we are very, very blessed!
Thank you everyone for your love and support...we will continue to blog on Kylie's progress!
Enjoy some pictures from the hospital!
