Happy Birthday Madeleine and William!
2 years...2 years!...2 years? Really….why does it not seem like it has been 2 years already? Time is such a peculiar anomaly is it not? Somehow…2 years ago; seconds, minutes, hours, and days…seemed to stand still…time was my nemesis. On the 17th of May, 2008, my twin babies were born so very prematurely that our OB, Dr. Durel, could not even assure us that they would live. Katherine had been in and out of the hospital for the better part of two weeks…and after almost 5 full days on medication to prevent labor…her magnesium levels were too high..and we could do nothing more except go to an emergency c-section. Madeleine’s amniotic sac had ruptured and now so had William’s…we had no other safe alternatives. So at 24 weeks and 6 days of gestation….not even 6 full months into the pregnancy, our twins were born in a Neonatal Intensive Care Operating Room.
I remember holding Katherine’s hand as she lie still on the table…trembling from fear and from the pain of the surgery…my right hand being nearly crushed as she endured the pain. She declined the use of heavy pain killers as she did not want the babies to have any more medication in them than they already did. Madeleine was born first…she scared me so terribly as she did not make a sound and even appeared limp as the pulled her from Katherine’s womb. They did not say a word and went immediately to work on clearing her airway and getting her intibated. Then only 3 minutes later…after some serious digging…William was pulled from his comfortable hiding place. I was delighted to hear him cry just one single note as I knew that meant that despite the immaturity of his lungs…he at least could force some air from them!
Over the next hours, the team of specialists, doctors, nurses, therapists, and surgeons toiled over our newborn children. They each weighed but 750 grams…1 pound 10.5 ounces. They were only 12 inches long or so…and my wedding band fit loosely around William’s forearm. I will never forget that first night in the NICU. Katherine spent much of the night sleeping in the room, recovering from her surgery…and there I was…scared to death. I was so excited to be a father of a daughter and a son…but so terrified of the possibilities. By the end of the night, the team had them both stabilized…as much as they could be…and that was the best news we’d had in weeks! Our future was so uncertain at that point…as uncertain as it always is….but it seemed so grave and desperate. But, despite all of the setbacks, the preterm labor, the surgery, the life support that our children were on…on the 17th of May, 2008, Katherine and I became parents to 2 of the most beautiful babies we’d ever lain eyes upon…and we were forever changed.
For those of you who know us well….you know that it has been a difficult…a terrifying…a painful…but also a remarkable and amazingly miraculous 2 years. I wish My Precious Madeleine Won Saint a Happy 2nd Birthday today! I hope that her next years are just as amazing. We lift her up in praise to God for his love and commitment to us. He is her child and we submit to his will for us, gratefully and lovingly. And as we gaze towards heaven, we wish also a Happy Birthday to our precious Angel and Son, William Feig Saint! I hope that he will remain patient with us. We will be a whole family again someday, and there will be a joy like none that we have ever experienced on that day!
Pro Deo et Patria!

Will