Melina Eloise
Alcide David
Can't think of a better day to share with all of you that my daughter Karin and her husband Bob have made us grandparents once again. Well, actually, twice again, with these beautiful new "twins." (I will explain the quotation marks around the word "twins" later.) At any rate, Sunday is the perfect time to celebrate this long-hoped-for miracle, for we are well aware that God is the One who made it possible. To be sure, medical technology had something to do with it; but to our way of thinking, technology is nothing but a tool that allows us, sometimes, to usher in His blessings. And we just managed to usher in two of the best blessings any of us have ever received.
Many of you old-timers around here know that Karin has struggled with infertility for years. She is the proud owner of a double uterus, and apparently that makes getting (and staying) pregnant a bit trickier. After two rounds of failed IVF, Karin went to a new fertility doctor who helped her conceive at last. Because of her history of non-implantation, he made the decision to implant one embryo in each of her two uteruses, hoping against hope that one of them would take. I guess you can see what happened! In a very rare occurrence, both of the babies-to-be implanted. Suddenly, she and Bob were expecting twins.
We were, of course, both delighted and nervous. How wonderful it would be to get two babies at once; how frightened we were that carrying two would be too crowded for her smaller-than-normal-sized uteri. There are very few records of people who have succeeded at carrying a baby in each of two wombs to term, so the little bit of information we could find online did not dismiss our very real concerns. And the fact that she had a large bleed at 13 weeks and a smaller one at 15 weeks didn't boost our confidence either. Nonetheless, because the pregnancies themselves were clearly an answer to prayer, we decided to put our faith in the Lord, trusting that it was His intent for Karin to birth these babies safely.
Well, on February 12th, she did. And while she had to get a C-section 5 1/2 weeks early due to preeclampsia, they came out weighing 5 lb. 1 oz. and 5 lb. 7 oz. Melina had a little breathing difficulty for the first hour or so, but both babies are now doing well. I think you can imagine how thrilled all of us are, but I'm not sure anyone can possibly imagine the exhilaration I feel looking at my beautiful daughter as she holds these babies in her arms. Her face glows with the purest joy I have ever seen, and I know to Whom I owe the debt of gratitude I feel. Of course, I have always owed Him a debt of gratitude for every blessing in my life, but this is one of the rarest and most treasured. I will be thanking Him every day for the rest of my days. (And then I hope to do it in person!) ;)
Welcome to the world, Little Alcide and Melina. You are loved.
And a very happy Valentine's Day
❤ ❤ ❤
from Grandma and Grandpa A.
PS. I said I would explain the word "twins." Technically, our babies are NOT twins, because they were fertilized separately by IVF and transferred to separate uteri. Furthermore, one is actually 4-5 days older than the other, because he (yes, it's Alcide) implanted sooner. Karin had them remove him first so he will be older in both birth and implantation. (And she also wanted Melina to have a "big brother.") The doctors still call them twins, for want of a better word, and so will we.
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