Luca & Daniel

Luca & Daniel by NILMDTS Affiliate Photographer Loraine Ehresman

There are no words to describe the sacred moment in which a father holds his newborn son for the first time in his arms. In December of 2019, on New Year’s Eve to be exact, I became a father of not just one, but two boys. My twin sons.

Luca and Daniel were born sleeping at 35 weeks, just ten days away from my wife’s scheduled c-section.

On Monday, December 30th, we went to see the OB for a regular appointment, the last one before their arrival. Something was wrong, there was no movement. She couldn’t find a heartbeat. We went straight to the hospital. I will never forget my wife’s face when we received the news that our boys were gone, and gone was the dream of having them with us – that was no longer our reality. From this moment, I felt like I needed to protect my family once the doctor explained the next steps, I knew that what would follow would become the hardest and most trying time in our lives.

I was present each minute as my wife was induced, began experiencing contractions, and prepared to labor and deliver the babies naturally. The room was filled with a mix of sadness, anxiety, and excitement as we prepared to meet our boys. Despite the pain and heartbreak we felt, we were happy and grateful that we would be …