celebrating and grieving

It was just over one year ago that I posted about our beautiful experience out in Colorado for the wedding of DH's sister.  

Tonight I am posting about the most recent stage in their young marriage.  Just earlier this year N and her husband S were surprised to learn that they were expecting, and only a few months ago were even more surprised to learn they were expecting twins!  But there were some indications that there might be complications with the babies, and so they made the decision not to have the babies in India, where they live, but to move N back to Colorado for the last critical months before the birth, which they were expecting in January.  N had been back in the states for only a few weeks when she went into preterm labor.  I am excerpting below from an email she wrote this week to family and friends: 

On Saturday night I went to the hospital because of painful cramps. It was ultimately discovered that one of twins had passed away in utero and the other one was struggling for her life. It turned out to be an atypical, acute onset case of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). This led to an emergency C-section at just 27 weeks gestation. At the time S had not yet arrived but thankfully my mom was able to be with me. S arrived the next day.

S and I are celebrating the birth of our surviving daughter, S. A.. [for privacy reasons I am not sharing names, but it is Indian and beautiful. : ) ] Her name means "one who bears witness" to "the grace of God". S.A. was born at 1 pound 12 ounces though some of that was unhealthy fluid buildup; she is now down to 1 pound 5 ounces. She was resuscitated at birth as her heart had stopped and she was not breathing. She is a beautiful, perfect girl but incredibly tiny and not ready to be born. Right now she is fairly stable but completely dependent on tubes, wires, and machines for all of her functioning. This means we cannot hold her, feed her, or touch her much yet. She has been in Neonatal Intensive Care since birth and is expected to be there till her 40 week due date (February 6). We have a lot of hope for her but it is painful to see her in such uncomfortable and lonely medical machinery.

We are also grieving the loss of her beautiful twin sister, N. ("dedicated to God"). We loved her very much and wanted her with us.

We will be grateful for your continuing prayers during this time. Please pray that all of S. A.'s organs will develop and function well. Pray that she will put on healthy weight, be able to breathe on her own, and be able to tolerate food (rather than IV solution) through her tubes. Pray for wisdom and carefulness for her many doctors and nurses. Pray for S and me, and our families, as we struggle to handle our emotions and accept God's will.  

This is one of the reasons I am getting renewed eyes for the blessings in my life.  Sometimes is too easy to get into the maddening rush of life and forget what is really important.  If anyone is moved to pray for N and her little family, thank you.