Special delivery!!

Kendra Craciun

Collin Craciun

After weeks and months of waiting and wondering, we welcomed little Collin Filip and Kendra Elizabeth Craciun into the world early this morning at 4:30 am!! We miraculously made it to 35 weeks - 7 weeks past my initial hospitalization for pre-term labor. We didn't quite make it to the scheduled C-section date of November 4th, but God knew the exact day these little ones would arrive, and we are unbelievably blessed to have them officially join our family!

I came in Friday night contracting pretty heavily. Initially, upon my arrival, they slowed for a little while, but then picked up again and remained hard even after receiving more of the Procardia. Around 3 am they decided they would rather proceed with the C-section than risk me going into full, active labor. Everyone snapped into action, and a little over an hour later, we heard Collin's first little healthy cry. Amazingly, even as a twin born nearly 5 weeks early, he weighed in at a whopping 6 pounds even!! He is 19" long and has lots of dark hair. He initially was breathing really well on his own, but later was put on the respirator to help him out. He is already off it again and doing just fantastic.

After removing the umbilical cord from around Kendra's arm and neck, they were able to bring her out a few minutes later. No cries from her, since her lungs contained a lot of fluid that had to be repeatedly pumped out. Unlike her brother, Kendra was actually even smaller than expected at only 2 pounds, 11 ounces and 14 inches long. She was intubated right away, yet remarkably, she actually beat her brother off the respirator today! All those prayers, as well as the steroid injections, helped immensely!

When they examined her, they found that she has no anal opening, a condition undetected by the ultrasounds. So now, in addition to requiring surgery to correct her duodenal atresia, she will also need at least three surgeries to correct this issue. The surgeon plans to correct the atresia and perform a colostomy on Tuesday. In a few months, when she's stronger, they will create an anal opening, and then months later, around 1 year, remove the colostomy bag and resection her colon and bowels. It's all a little overwhelming - a much more involved process than the atresia correction alone would've been, but again, we trust God is not surprised by this development, and He will carry us through.

So far, I'm doing well post-C section. I got to hold Kendra for about 45 minutes this afternoon, which was such a sweet and precious experience. At the time, Collin was still on the respirator, so I was unable to hold him yet. Neither is ready to feed yet, so we're pumping and they're on IVs. We don't know how long of a stay we're looking at for either baby yet, but undoubtedly Kendra's stay will be longer as she stabilizes from the surgery and gains necessary pounds. And for now, that's all the news we have! But I hope you enjoyed these pics of the newest Craciuns!! Thank You, Lord!