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Our Story of Love at First Sight…

We were very excited to learn that we were expecting a "Snowvember Baby" in November 2014! The start of the pregnancy was difficult with lots of nausea, and we went to the ER at 10 weeks due to dehydration. At our first ultrasound during that ER visit, we got to see our little peanut on the screen and hear the little heartbeat! We were in for an even bigger surprise when we went to our first real ultrasound at 13 weeks... the sonographer matter-of-factly said "there are the 2 babies!" We laughed and cried at the same time, and couldn't believe we were actually expecting twins! Although we told family right away that we were having twins, we decided to wait and surprise everyone with their gender at the baby shower. We found out at our next ultrasound that we were having 2 girls, and that they were identical (shared placenta, 2 amniotic sacs). We had no genetic history of twins in our families, and received no fertility treatments. This combined with the fact that they were identical, we knew that this was our own little special miracle! The rest of the pregnancy went fairly well, with just the usual discomfort. However, due to sharing a placenta, the doctors had us going in for weekly ultrasounds to monitor for possible twin-to-twin transfusion. They did measurements every other week, and both babies were always growing steadily, with "Baby B" (Genevieve) always being a bit bigger than "Baby A" (Shalan). Genevieve was always bouncing around and not cooperating for the sonographer, so we knew she was a little fighter! At 34 weeks we went in for our weekly ultrasound and learned that Genevieve had only grown a couple ounces, while Shalan had grown almost a pound. It was not, however, a big enough discrepancy between the 2 girls to warrant any immediate action. The following week, at 35 1/2 weeks, we went in for the ultrasound and were immediately told that Genevieve had no heartbeat. Our world changed forever. We were taken to Labor and Delivery that morning, and the following afternoon, July 8, 2015, at 2:44pm, Shalan Patricia Cieri was born, weighing 5lbs 10.4oz and Genevieve Grace Cieri was stillborn at 2:45pm, weighing 4lbs 6.2oz. This has been such a bitter sweet time for us. We are overjoyed with having Shalan in our lives, and heartbroken over losing our sweet Genevieve. We know that Shalan will always have a special bond with her twin sister, and that she will be with her again one day. Until then, we will continue to keep Genevieve’s memory alive with our family and friends.

Not all twins walk side by side; sometimes one has wings to fly.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and learn about our baby who will only live on in our hearts… forever. We would like to ask that you help the organization that has helped us and helps so many others in their times of need. All donations made to this page are made in loving memory of our baby gone too soon and will be used towards the WNYPBN’s Programs.