You have all been so very patient. I’m so impressed. Ages ago, I posted the teaser from this session. And then I went dark. Off the map. Silencio. But it was for a good reason. These photos were meant as a surprise for these beautiful girls’ daddy on his birthday. I was afraid that although the chances of him checking this blog are SLIM TO NONE that maybe somewhere, somehow a coworker or a friend or a friend of a friend or the mailman- SOMEONE might check this blog and then say, “Hey! I saw those adorable photos of your girls!” And Tero would say, “Which photos?” And then the well-meaning friend/acquaintance would say, “The ones plastered all over the internet- for surely a photographer wouldn’t put something online that’s meant to be kept a SECRET?!”
The chances were rare- but it could happen.
Anyway. Now I’ll present these photos to you. But stick around for the story afterwards.
Adorable, right?! Right. And miraculous. Because these are the photos of two beautiful girls who almost weren’t.
I’ll never forget it- I was in the cafe of our supermarket, heating up food for Benjy when I got a text from Alyssa. ”We’ve had some excitement this weekend. The girls decided to come a bit early.” This was April. The girls weren’t due until July. They were FOUR MONTHS EARLY. Alyssa tried keeping the text message light, but I immediately started crying.
Four months early.
I didn’t know anything about premature babies at that point, having always avoided those chapters in baby books should I ever happen to pick one up. But I did know that a baby- much less two- being born halfway through her development was not a good thing.
And it wasn’t. The girls spent MONTHS in the hospital. It was a roller coaster from hell for Alyssa, Tero and all who loved them. For not only did they have to worry about their twins, but they had a one year old son back home who didn’t understand what was happening. Emergency surgeries, illnesses, doctor visits, breathing tubes, and hospital transfers were all thrown on top of the normal chaos of having a toddler at home and a job to attend (for Tero- thankfully Alyssa could was at home).
They did all this with the odds of survival for these itty bitty girls (50%) looming over their heads.
BUT THEY SURVIVED. They survived. And they’re beautiful. And smiley. And lovely. And they love their mommy. And each other. And they’re perfect. Maybe not 100% healthy, but PERFECT. Because babies are perfect just they way they are.
They’re not out of the woods yet. They’ll be closely monitored for all sorts of scary stuff in these next few years. But as their first birthday approaches, I sincerely hope they’ll be able to celebrate with all the joy and gusto in the world.
Alyssa, thank you for letting me photograph your little angels. I can’t wait for my boys to fight over them in the years to come.
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Tags: children's photography, Espoo, family photography, Finland, Helsinki, lasten valokuvaus, professional photographer, Vantaa
beautiful! Beautiful pictures, beautiful girls, beautiful story… I might have cried a little
I also remember getting that text message and crying out of shock and fear and worry for dear Alyssa and her family. Every time I see them I’m so impressed and thrilled that they made it and have done so incredibly well to boot. These photos capture that perfectly. Nice work, especially on the one in the middle and of them holding hands. PRECIOUS!
Oh my goodness, those are fantastic. The odds of me ever meeting those little girls is slim to none (unless I get a paper submitted for that Helsinki conference next spring . . .), but I will know be praying for them, starting today, from now on.