How do you say goodbye to one child while bringing home another? This is something I know many families with multiples are faced with: one baby is healthy, the other is not.
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The excitement of expecting twins seemed to fade quickly when this family realized that their boy-girl twins would not be coming home together. Their girl, Camille, had anencephaly — she was missing a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Mom wanted their birth stories documented even before she found out about Camille’s diagnosis, but once they found out their sweet girl wouldn’t be coming home with them, she wanted nothing more than to make sure their arrival was captured. A little after 37 weeks these two made their arrival via c-section and Cameron came out screaming while Camille made the teeniest of tiniest little noises. Both were born alive — something expected for Cameron but up in the air for Camille. Although it took her a bit to pink up, Camille did — and got so many snuggles with her family in the OR and back in her mom’s recovery room. Camille got four wonderful days with her twin brother and mom and dad and big sister before she gained her angel wings. Her arrival and time she’d have on this earth was up in the air, and these pictures will forever be treasured by her family as her time here was so brief but oh so loved. —
{image description: newborn twins, one crying and one silent, just delivered via cesarean section sit cradled by providers as they are assessed before being taken over to the warmer.}
Images and Caption by Alexandria Mooney Photography