Mia and Juliet were with us when we found out we were having twins.  She sat on my lap as the ultrasound tech went back and forth between heart beats and I screamed “ I see two!”   She was so excited and kept telling everyone she was “having two babies.” Juliet would rub and kiss my belly.  She would put her head down on it and look up at me with a big smile.  I couldn’t get enough of hearing her say baby Peter and Maurice followed by “awe baby!”

I wanted the girls to be on this journey with us. To always know that these are their babies too. Mia helped get the nursery ready and understood the babies would be with us soon. She would kiss them goodnight and good morning everyday.  It all felt like a beautiful dream. They would always have each other.

Things changed quickly.  When the boys became sick I worried about the girls too.  I didn’t want them to know how scared I was.  We had to travel back and forth to Florida to see Dr. Quintero.  My parents moved in to keep them in their own home and to make sure they could keep their routine.  My mother would get Mia ready for school or camp and my father would drive her and pick her up.  Juliet would hang out with nana or Leo and auntie all day and have so much fun.  They took Mia and Juliet to birthday parties and play dates and somehow my mother also managed to keep up with my house work, my laundry and everything else.  Auntie would take Mia too and she had her best friends Mickey and Nicky with her almost everyday.

To say I am blessed is an understatement. They always told me take care of you and the babies and we will make sure the girls are ok.  I know they missed me but they were having so much fun and it didn’t upset their life.  This was so important to me.  My heart was split in quarters worrying about my girls and my boys.

Today everything came back together and my beautiful dream came true.  We knew we were coming home and the babies have been improving everyday.  My parents took Mia and Juliet to see us and then we planned on taking them to meet their brothers for the very first time.  The minimum age to go into the NICU is 4.  There is a family waiting room where we kept Juliet but I wanted her there in any way she could be so she felt included.  Peter’s beautiful nurse made them packages of the teeniest diapers, mini blood pressure cuffs and baby bottles.  She gave it to them before they came in and told them they were ofically big sisters and part of the NICU team.  They were so excited.

I can’t explain the feeling of having all my children together.  Even just having them in the same building made my heart feel so full.  I didn’t know what to expect.  I didn’t know how Mia would react to all the machines and tubes. I knew if she saw her brothers with James and I.. and we told her how much they love her and how excited they are to meet her it would be ok.  She washed her hands and let the nurse at the front check her temperature.  She walked down the hall holding her daddy’s hand smiling and I followed with my phone taping. What happened next was magical.  A moment I will hold in my heart forever .. where time seemed to stand still… and everything was right and made sense.

Today is another day where the boys are improving.  The numbers are moving slowly but clinically they have significantly improved.  They are brave and strong and so are my girls.  Their life was disrupted.. mommy and daddy away for weeks at a time and watching me on bed rest not able to do much with them.  You would never know.  My beautiful girls are happy , my boys improving and mommy and daddy get to go home and start our life as a family of 6.