The Day (24 weeks)

I called Christie on my cell at 10AM this morning. I was just about to drop Logan off at daycare, and I needed to know what days he'd be attending next week. She was thrilled that we'd made it to the big 24, and said she was feeling great.

Five minutes later, I called her back to complain about daycare's billing practices. You can imagine my shock when Christie sobbed hysterically into the phone "You need to come now! The baby fell out!" and hung up on me (NB: the baby did NOT fall out). I tried calling back, but all the nurse would say is "you should come as quickly as you can."

So, I did just that. At 10:10, I was in northern Blaine. At 10:37, I was in scrubs outside the operating room. I'll spare you the details, but Christie had developed some rather serious complications, and they needed to deliver both babies by emergency C-section.

Bryce Thomas came into the world at 11:31. His sister Chloe Kathleen followed at 11:33. Both babies were stabilized in the operating room and did not need any resuscitation. Given their gestational age, everyone seemed very optimistic about the babies' conditions. Christie and I both got to say hello to our little miracles before they were whisked off to the NICU.

And so, the next chapter in our incredible journey begins. Each baby has its own team of doctors and nurses providing round-the-clock care. Once again, we have been very impressed with the quality of both the staff and the facilities. Our children are shockingly tiny: Bryce weighs 580 grams (1 lb, 4.5 oz) and Chloe weighs 555 grams (1 lb, 3.5 oz). I'll post some pictures later.

The doctors have warned us that the road ahead is long and fraught with peril; we still have no idea how this story will end. Chloe and Bryce will have to overcome countless challenges over the coming months, but they've cleared the first hurdle, and both are stable. In the best case, we'll bring home a healthy baby boy and girl in late-August or early-September.

Christie is doing great. We're both tired and frazzled, but very thankful that things worked out as well as they did. It is somewhat miraculous that we were able to hold out for two weeks, and we could not have asked for a better outcome under the circumstances. Thanks for all your support, and please keep Bryce and Chloe in your prayers.

UPDATE: Pictures!!

#1: The happy papa, after the delivery



#2: Bryce Thomas, age 1 hour (remember, the diaper is roughly the size of a playing card)



#3: Chloe Kathleen, age 1 hour (note how big the nurse's fingers look)



#4: Mama meeting Chloe for the first time

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