I had ten weeks of strict bed rest and incredible support by family and friends, especially my parents who drove up from South Carolina to complete all the home projects and nursery-readiness-plan that I could only direct from the reclined position of my recliner. Friends threw me beautiful baby showers from our home. And those ten weeks were wonderful and terrifying as I lived with the daily anxiety of, “what if the twins come today?”

At 35 weeks, the twins decided to make their appearance. It was time to meet these girls I’d dreamed about for so long and prayed for every waking moment of pregnancy. I will spare you the labor-and-delivery story that we moms love to share over cocktails or coffee or during playdates. These are our battle stories, and one (male) friend observed that it’s always merely a matter of time before L&D stories come out in a group of moms. #true

The summary is that labor and delivery was quick and relatively easy compared to what came before and after, and by 6:37pm on a beautiful September day, only seven minutes apart, both girls were born and cradled in the arms of proud, exuberant parents. L. was born first with bright, wide eyes that took in the world; and whose screams provided motivation for me to birth her sister, A. Both girls seemed shocked and excited to be in the world, and I will never forget our first moments together as a new family of four. 

We will pause there, and celebrate the momentous occasion of two healthy newborn twins, born at 5.6 lbs and 4.11 lbs, to a waiting world of 11 medical personnel in the delivery room (yep – that was intense) and countless friends and family who could not wait to meet these newborn twins who had defied medical odds with the miracle of their birth at ten weeks AFTER premature labor. Welcome to the world, sweet girls!

If you want to continue to follow along, subscribe to my blog or like my Facebook page “Hidden Glory” to get updates. For the month of October, I’m participating in “Write31Days” and my series is “31 Days of Parenting Twins.”