And then there were four

Two weeks ago, Britney was getting ready for her Utah baby shower. All of a sudden, she noticed some unusual bleeding and we rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, we learned that the babies and Britney were alright, but we stayed in the hospital for 4 days as a precaution. We learned that one of the twins was growing more slowly than the other and were instructed to return every few days for a check-up (Britney wrote a full account of the experience in the preceding blog post). On the 22nd of December, we had an ultrasound and it was decided that we should induce labor on the 30th of December. We were so excited to spend Christmas at home and prepare for the arrival of our two little girls. But the twins had other ideas.

Just before midnight that same day, Britney sprung a leak. She called her Mom and confirmed that her water had broken. For the second time in just over a week, we were on our way to the hospital. Luckily, because of our previous visit, we knew exactly where to go and who to talk to. Britney's Mom had hoped to be by Britney's side during the delivery, but because of the short notice, there was no way for her to make it in time. We were lucky enough to have Britney's sister, Madison, in Provo and she showed up in the early morning to help distract Britney from the nervousness she was experiencing. 

After we arrived at the hospital, things moved quickly. By 5:30 am, Britney was ready to deliver. She was wheeled into the operating room (in case she needed a c-section) and her doctor arrived. She was coached on pushing with the contractions, and three contractions later, the first girl was here. I accompanied our daughter into an adjoining room to see her and maybe snap a few pictures. I had barely pulled my camera out when the nurses started calling for me from the other room. By the time I stepped through the operating room door, the doctor was holding our other little girl. I was surprised how quickly it all happened. Baby A was born at 6:01 am and Baby B was born at 6:02 am. They were so little, but so lovely.

Our first daughter was 18 inches long and weighed 4lbs 1oz. We named her Arabell Jane Lindsey. 'Arabell' is a family name and 'Jane' comes from Britney's maternal grandmother. She's got quite the girly personality and is always posing with her hands by her face and looking around with her big, beautiful eyes.

 

Girl #2 was 16 inches long and weighed 3lbs 3oz. We named her Everlette Pearl Lindsey. If you haven't heard the name 'Everlette' before, you're not alone. Britney kind of made it up / heard a similar name in a movie (10,000 B.C.) If you type it into Google translate, the translation is returned as 'Ever Light'. I know that, like her Mom, Everlette will always be a light to our family. Her middle name, 'Pearl' comes from my maternal grandmother. 

We aren't sure whether or not the girls are identical. Arabell is a pound bigger than Everlette, so it's hard to say for certain, but we think they look alike. If they're not identical, they're definitely sisters.

We consider ourselves very lucky to have these two beautiful girls join our family. They are small, but they are healthy and strong. We've had great doctors and nurses helping us out along the way as well as lots of support and love from family and friends.

As the year-end nears, I can't help but think about how quickly my life has changed and how many blessings have been reigned down on me in such a short time. Exactly one year before the twins were born, Britney and I were visiting the Oakland temple. It was that night that we first started talking about getting married. This picture was taken that night:

A couple months later we were engaged. A few months after that, we were married. We found out we were pregnant shortly thereafter. And now, our family has already grown to four people! It's been an amazing ride, and now I have three beautiful girls riding along with me.