One year

One year ago I was just waking up in my hospital room at Rigshospitalet in Denmark and getting ready to meet my monoamniotic/monochorionic twins. I was nervous about the c-section and about the babies' health. And I was so excited. When you are going through such a high risk pregnancy, it is common not to allow yourself to visualize the little people you might be creating. I thought about my girls and wanted desperately for them to be ok and to turn out healthy, but I didn't really imagine them. I didn't think much about what having two babies would be like, or how it would be for Riley to have two sisters. I didn't read books about parenting twins - I was too superstitious to do something like that. We chose names, we saw the babies on the ultrasounds (approximately 32 of them) and we prayed. People all over the world prayed with us. We had so much love and support from our friends and family and from people tangentially connected to us who just heard about our story and connected to us somehow. I like to think that Aviva and Violet received prayers in nearly every religion and good thoughts from so many spiritualities. On the morning of March 26, 2013, all those prayers and good wishes paid off when our babies were born.

Now one year later I am the lucky mom of three amazing kids. A proud big brother who is nearly 4 and two sweet, happy, funny little girls who make each day joyful. All the worry of the pregnancy and the NICU has slowly melted away and left in its wake waves of gratitude that could fill an ocean. I think often of the amazing midwives and doctors I met at the hospital and of the pediatric nurses who visited our home and of the friends who visited me at the hospital, or sent care packages or took countdown photos and I say silent thank yous -the kind a mom of infant twins and a 3.5 year old boy has time to say. To all of you, I remain so grateful.

Having twins is tough. Mixing twins with a toddler and then moving countries is insanely tough. But each and every day I get to care for those girls, I know what it truly means to be lucky. I am so blessed to have my little family of five.

Happy birthday Violet and Aviva. Thank you for making it so much fun to be your mommy.