Twelve days ago, two little new miracles joined our world.

I’d like you to meet Elinor Rose and Juliet Johanna.

After what felt like the longest pregnancy in the history of the world, we welcomed our girls at 36 weeks. And after eight hours of Pitocin and a botched epidural (a story for another day), Elinor was born first, with Juliet arriving a brisk two minutes later. Juliet’s birth was significantly more rushed than her older sister’s thanks to a prolapsed umbilical cord that *almost* necessitated an emergency c-section. But, there literally wasn’t time for a c-section, and so my doctor remained calm and became militant, calling the nurses and residents into immediate action to save our girl. The moment she was born the room went quiet, waiting for a sound from the tiny baby. In quiet shouts I begged, “Is she ok? Is she ok? Please someone tell me if she is ok.”

But no one answered.

We had to wait for Juliet to let us know she was ok.

Thankfully, we heard a wail and her grey body turned pink. A miracle! A gift.

There was no time for delivery room photos as the girls were taken to the NICU for observation. But, thanks to the care they received and the lucky miracle of life, we have two lifetimes of photos waiting to happen. And for that I will be forever grateful.

Thank you for joining our family, Elinor and Juliet. We waited a long time for your arrival, and we are so happy you are here!