Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Precious gems versus semi-precious gems, the clear difference.

This top picture shows the girls at 3 weeks. I am pleased they are not identical as I can tell them apart easily by the hair. Aumpika's hair is a little bit lighter color, slightly red and is finer compared to Alishia's thick black hair. Aumpika on the right, Alishia on the left in this picture. Plus Aumpika's face is rounder and she is darker skinned. Alishia has a more oval face and very light skin. I have cancelled my plan of having their names tattooed onto their foreheads.
First day back home.





All three girls have what they want.
10 hours before delivery, somehow we knew it was our last chance to take this picture.

I am absolutely the luckiest guy I know and I am serious. My sweetheart of a wife had previously went out of her way to give me three great sons and a wonderful daughter. Since I waited until the age that most guys are already grandfathers before I decided to get married, the four children gave me tremendous satisfaction.
Even though I never voiced it but after three boys in a row, I secretly wanted another daughter, actually I really wanted a pair of twins, and most deeply but certainly never spoken, I wanted a pair of twin daughters.

My mother was the first love of my life and she was a twin daughter. How I admired my grandfather for raising those two daughters of his on his farm in rural Ohio, a beautiful life's journey.
Out of the blue on a bright autumn day while I was rushing to get ready to go to town my wife stopped me in the driveway of our farm in Ohio and began to whisper magic to me....another baby was coming. Tears of joy came quickly and I had to straighten up even more quickly before the boys noticed their daddy crying.

We readied ourselves for a trip back to Thailand as all of our children have been born there. The rural village we live in is full of family members and they have always made us feel very comfortable with each child. When May and I went in for her first check up with the doctor I asked only one question, 'did she think it may be twins?' and the doctor said no, it was just one baby and we could do ultrasound if we wanted to explore further. I have heard ultrasound is disturbing to babies so I let the idea go.
At eight months and May being almost the same size as our house, I asked again. This time the doctor found two heartbeats, one on each side and what felt like two heads, both pointing down. May and I both broke into tears as this was the happiest news there could have been for us.
That night we watched a movie and it happened to have a pair of Siamese twin girls in it, joined at the hip. I became a bit nervous but I just laughed with the boys and agreed with them that those twins were very beautiful.
Within another couple of days, and we told no one of our new secret, May's water broke in the middle of the night from one baby kicking around. Unlike when the previous baby broke her water and she insisted we first run errands, shop and then take a leisurely buffet lunch before taking our sweet ole time getting to the hospital, she said that we had to go NOW and I had to drive FAST. The roads were empty so we flew the 10 miles into town and they rushed her to delivery.
Within the hour the first daughter was born, I was relieved to see she was not physically joined to her twin and her appearance was that of a perfect baby. Only 10-15 more nervous minutes later and her twin sister appeared and she was also absolutely gorgeous. Within an hour and a half after we arrived at the hospital, I was holding an exhausted woman over the age of 40 that had completed the entire delivery of twins AND pushing out the afterbirth on her own power with no drugs and virtually no help from anyone. The doctor and nurses were in awe and requested to be informed of the exact yoga program that she had practiced daily during pregnancy. I am so proud of her.
The girls each have beautiful dark hair and perfect facial features, long elegant fingers and long legs. Both have good weight for twins, over two kilos each, nearly 10 pounds together, and were both fully developed so they did not need to stay in an incubator like many twins. We left the hospital with the doctors blessings after each girl passed all the test and showed that they could each make a dent in the huge supply of mother's milk that had come in like clockwork once they started nursing.
All of the family, seemingly all of the whole village here in Thailand, is so excited about this amazing new addition to our family. We are so very thankful and Leo's expression in the first picture sums up my feelings exactly.
It is my ultimate pleasure to introduce to you, the two newest of my precious gems collection, Alishia Maylee Little and Aumpika Wakanda Little. Warm regards, Lee

12 comments:

  1. Congratulations Lee!!!
    A wonderful story, and a perfect ending.

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  2. Wow! It is with tears of joy streaming down my face that I read your beautiful story, Lee! How wonderful and exciting. I am dancing around the house feeling 50 pounds lighter, so buoyant I am with the good news. The whole family looks beautiful and happy and excited. May simply glows in every picture, especially the one just hours before delivery. I wish I could see you all right now.... So thank you for the pictures. They will have to do. You are all amazing, especially May. A miracle birth story, in my opinion! Love you guys.....

    Suzanne

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  3. Thanks Luke, a dream come true!!

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  4. Ahhh, Suzanne, May said we had to take that big preggie pic to send to YOU. She misses you. Why don't you guys stop over, I will put on a pot of tea.....

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  5. I can't believe it!!!! Twins!!!! Lee, you have got to be the luckiest man I know. An absolutely gorgeous wife and mother, two great boys, an incredibly pretty teenage daughter, wonderful in-laws, a magnificent hidden paradise surrounded by mountains, a job that offers you creativity AND freedom and now this... twin girls! Who else has it better than you?

    Does this mean I have to give up my guest house? I assume you will be needing the room.

    I am so deeply happy for you and May and the whole family. Your life could not possibly get any better. This is the greatest news I could've heard. Congratulations! Your daughters are incredibly beautiful already. I am so very happy for you all...

    My love always............

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  6. Hi Gloria,
    Glad you found the blog. I didn't want to spoil the surprise by telling you in an email, knew you would be shocked since you spent so much time with May and I talking about the baby, then babies!!!
    The guest house is still yours, of course! We can always build another!
    We are so pleased. Miss ya, Lee

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  7. Hi again, Lee and May... I have a question... which one is Alishia and which one is Aumpika? Who was born first? I'd love to stop for tea, but I think the car might run out of gas on the way over!

    Big hugs and kisses....

    Suz

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  8. Dear Lee,

    That was so expressively and beautifully written, it was a joy to read. Truly, you and your family are very fortunate. All best wishes, Tenney

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  9. Hi Suz,
    I finally got around to posting a pic so you can see the differences in them. Alisha looks more Thai and was born first, Aumpika looks a bit more European. She eats a lot at night and Alisha pigs out all day. They are growing so fast even I can see it. Love, Lee

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  10. Hi Teeney,
    Thanks, it was a pleasure to write. It will be even more fun to tell the story around the campfire sometime. Best regards, Lee

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  11. hi lee,
    its wonderful going through, your page is full of love,joy and excitement.really very nice story.congratulations and wish you all the lucks falls on you all the time.

    your old friend
    jhonny_liao@yahoo.com
    taipei,taiwan

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  12. Hi Lee Little,
    I'm kind of late to say congratulations to you, any way congratulations on your precious twin daughters! You are the Luckiest man in the world.

    Italy,
    Young Hee

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