Of course she’s having twins, I thought to myself this past summer. My heart fluttered a bit while I stood outside the post office with my babes ~ they were throwing rocks into the river and I had just received a message from Shawna, a bride whose wedding I photographed in 2010. From the start, five years back, she and I had always had a connection, similarities, a natural friendship.
“You won’t believe this,” she said, “but we just found out we are having TWINS!!”
A few days earlier I had joked with her on Facebook that maybe all her morning sickness meant 2 babies in her belly ~ something I typically never do, because joking about twins is facetious, right? The odds were slim. Except they weren’t, because I had a feeling. Turns out, they had a feeling too. 🙂
As I walked into their triage room at Meriter Hospital a couple weeks back, my eyes filled with tears as I saw Shawna and Jason ready to add two more to their family of six. She looked just as beautiful as the day they were married and soon, I was reminded why I liked her so much from the start. Shawna tells it like it is and has a sense of humor that is so clever, so refreshing ~ I’m certain it’s the reason she can be super mama to all of her babes. Jason is her perfect compliment ~ caring, kind, rolls with Shawna’s jokes and is the absolute sweetest dad.
I know exactly what Shawna is feeling these days, just a few weeks after her twins’ birth ~ exhausted, overwhelmed, thankful, in love, blue, elated, overpowered, tired to her core, grateful, her-against-a-bunch-of-little-people. If anything, I hope these photos are a constant reminder of how quickly time passes and how amazing these little moments are. The feeling of holding not one but two sweet babies in your arms is the most amazing gift, sent straight from above. I could see the elation on their faces and some days, that heavy, heavy love is all that gets you from one hour to the next. Shawna and Jason, you’re super heroes, it’s hard, but you’re the best team ~ I see it so clearly. Thank you for having me present, it was an absolute honor. <3
December 16, 2015
Sloane Bennie // 6 lbs. // 19.5 inches
Nev Juliene // 5 lbs., 14 ounces // 18.5 inches
Shawna and Jason’s second twin was delivered breech, and due to the the unpredictability of a breech birth, only daddy was allowed in the room when the girls were actually born. The doctors and nurses involved were angels on earth ~ the girls were born 11 minutes apart and Shawna is basically the most amazing woman ever, the end. 🙂
She’s handing him his baby girls … let me fidget a bit and move that lump in my heart. <3
The girls’ middle names were in honor of both Shawna and Jason’s mothers. <3
Congratulations, B family ~ life is so, so good. 🙂
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