Partners in Crime

The Contine family is near and dear to our heart; I count our goodbye to them as one of the most difficult we made when leaving Austin. Their son, Oliver is exactly one month younger than Lyds and was Lydia's first friend, and we have missed them dearly since moving to Minneapolis. Elizabeth was one of a handful of people that knew we were trying for Baby #2, and when I called to tell her we were pregnant, she said, "Well... not to completely repeat history, but..." and for the second time in our relationship, she shared with me that our baby would be joined by a second Baby Contine roughly two weeks after his arrival.

Elizabeth was tremendously supportive during the difficult weeks of September and celebrated with us when we received good news. Elizabeth never made me feel crazy for my anxiety and continued to inquire and offer encouragement through the weeks of monitoring toward the end of our pregnancy. We have shared belly photos via text and compared pregnancies, so when I received a text in November that Elizabeth was in the hospital after a similar feeling (and more severe) pregnancy complication and Baby Contine--named Henry Charles--was threatening to make his appearance at 26 weeks, there was nowhere I wanted to be other than in Austin so that we could offer our support in person. Fortunately, things with Henry stabilized, he remained an "inside baby," and things for the Contines improved, even despite a second big scare in January. I joked that I thought our babies would share a birthday this round, but mostly was glad that Henry was a 2013 baby. A March due date baby arriving in November? Scary stuff.

So on Tuesday, when we received the message that Henry Charles arrived at nearly 37 weeks gestation at a healthy six and a half pounds, we wished we were in Austin, welcoming Henry with what would be the second birthday dinner of El Chilito burritos delivered for the Contine family, and now we know our boys are two days apart, one born on Mardi Gras, the other on Valentine's Day. Henry and Elizabeth have been quite the team and have overcome some major pregnancy obstacles, and we know that this little guy is bound to be pretty amazing. Congratulations, Elizabeth, Brian, Oliver, and Henry! We are so excited, we wish we were there, and we can't wait to snuggle beautiful Henry soon.