Chelsea has been a good friend of mine for a few years so you have to know when I found out she was pregnant, I flipped out…. in a really good way!  When I found out she was having twins, I couldn’t believe it! The news just got better and better.  Remember when I took photos of them earlier this year right when they found out they were expecting? Right here in case you need a refresher.

Chelsea and Donnie definitely didn’t have the best year.  In April, they discovered one of the twins, Emma, was growth restricted, also called Selective Intrauterine Growth Restriction. They went to Philadelphia to a children’s hospital and were told they should terminate Emma in order to give the other twin, Riley a better chance of survival.  They wasn’t in the cards for them and they refused to take the route, but to trust God.  Somehow, they managed to make it to 28 weeks, later than the doctors predicted, before they had a c-section to get the girls out.  Emma was 2 lb and 3 oz and Riley was born at 2 lbs and 13 oz.  Chelsea told me she prayed and prayed that she would hear them cry when they came out and when she heard that wonderful sound of cry at birth, she cried.  The NICU staff immediately took them so Chelsea and Donnie were not able to see them for 12 hours after birth, which I am sure was torture for these poor new parents.  Riley was in the NICU from July 24 until September 11 but Emma wasn’t released until September 29.  The new parents have been through hell and back…. but I am happy to report the girls are HEALTHY and happy.  I love seeing their videos on Facebook of the girls smiling and laughing just because I know how much they have gone through to get here.

Check out their newborn session once I did once the girls were out of the hospital!