It all began the night of the blizzard. It wasn't much of a blizzard, I'm sure the blizzard from the week before made fun of it and gave it a wedgie, but it was a blizzard none-the-less. Heather's pregnancy had taken some bad turns and we were spending a lot of time in the hospital. So, we feel a little ashamed to admit this, we were a little relieved when the doctor told us that it was time for the twins to come. Sure we were anxious about the fact that this was far earlier than the babies should come, but after a week going on an eternity in the hospital we were ready to end that chapter of our life and start writing the next.
And so it came to pass that Teagan Arthur Davis and Wesley Moore Davis came into the world on April 4, 2009. Never has a man been so excited to hear a baby cry as I was when Teagan let out his first tentative whimpers. Yes! They can breath! Wesley came out a minute later voicing his opinion about being pulled out of his warm home as well. The nurses quickly pulled me over to the corner of the room where I could watch the backs of the six doctors who were currently attending to the twins. One doctor eventually moved and I could see my sons. A doctor - after weeks of seeing a different doctor every day I gave up on trying to keep them all straight - gave me scissors and pointed me at Teagan's umbilical cord. It took me three cuts to get through it. I just couldn't seem to get my hand to move where I wanted it to. Another doctor wisely cut Wesley's cord for me.
A nurse handed Wesley to me and gave me orders to go show my wife. So I walked back around the operating room like a man carrying a bar of soap in a prison shower, unable to look away the bundle I was carrying to see the thick cluster of medical devices between me and Heather. Eventually I made it, and I managed not to drop the baby even once. I sat down on a chair by her head - the rest of her was still covered up for the sake of all - and brought the baby as close to her as I dared. And so Heather got to see one of her sons for the first time.
A nurse held Teagan out to me. I was scared enough holding the one baby and really didn't think my first experience holding two babies at once should be over the hard floor of the operating room that was of course filled with numerous sharp and dangerous instruments as most OR's are. I tried my best to communicate this to the nurse through the exited stammers and murmmers that I was capable of - I was pretty excited to see my sons - and she got the message. Instead the nurse held Teagan out to Heather so she could see and touch both of her children. We were now a family.
After what seemed too short a time to me - and I'm sure felt like a blink for Heather - the nurse informed me it was time to carry the children to the NICU. I got to carry Wesley the whole way. Our friend, Jen, was waiting just outside the operating room. Despite our best efforts to keep people away Jen had come any way, and we thank her for it. With out her we would never have gotten these, each babies first photos.
Teagan's First Photo
We made our way to the NICU and I set Wesley down in his bed under the Rhino. Teagan was placed under the Camel. I spent the next few hours watching the doctors and nurses attach their various tubes and wires and do their various checks on my sons. I ducked my camera in where ever I could find an opening to snap a few pictures. Heather would need them as she was not going to get to see them again until the next morning. Eventually I managed to tear myself away from their bedside and get back to my wife. We went back to her room together - completely against our will, but there's not many options about where to go when you can't feel your legs - and left the babies in the NICU for the night, feeling optimistic about how well they were doing. We never imagined that almost two weeks later they would still be there, seemingly no closer to getting out, stuck dancing the NICU shuffle. Three steps forward, two steps back. The dance that never ends.
