Michael and Katarina were thrilled to learn they were expecting a third child on Christmas morning in 2017. During their first sonogram, the Carlsons were stunned to discover they were having not one, but two babies. Through tears of excitement and disbelief, they learned that everything looked perfect for their Dichorionic Diamniotic twins, which meant the babies were considered fraternal twins. Through monitoring at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office in Stormont Vail Hospital, the Carlsons learned Katarina was carrying twins with the lowest risk type, but there was still a good chance the babies could be born 4-6 weeks early. At 15 weeks, big brothers, Hunter and Emmett, were excited to hear Katarina was having another boy and their first girl. At 28 weeks, Katarina was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and anemia, which she was able to manage with her diet. By this point, Katarina was the same size as she was full term with their second child and even walking had become increasingly difficult. At 33 weeks and 2 days, Katarina began experiencing contractions the morning of a scheduled appointment. They continued throughout the day, and by the afternoon, she went in for monitoring. Upon arrival, the Carlsons learned Katarina’s contractions were 5-7 minutes apart. She received medicine to increase the babies' lung development and three different medications to help slow down the contractions. At 11:45am the next day, July 19, 2018, the Carlsons were told they were having the babies that very day via C-section. Baby A, Amelia Rose Isabel Carlson, was born first, weighing 4 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 18 inches long. Two minutes later, Baby B, Levi Hayes Isaac Carlson, was born, weighing 4 pounds 1 ounce and also measuring 18 inches long. Katarina got a quick look at both babies before heading into recovery, and Michael followed the babies to Stormont Vail’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Amelia and Levi would spend more than a month in the NICU where they experienced a few ups and downs during their stay. Both babies experienced episodic breathing, worked hard to maintain their temperatures and struggled to learn to eat. The Carlsons are thankful for their supportive family, saying they could not have made it through the adventure without them. With two other children at home, Michael and Katarina would visit the babies each morning and then go home in the evening to have dinner with Hunter and Emmett. As parents, they found it hard to leave the babies but were comfortable leaving Amelia and Levi with “the amazing nurses, techs and physicians in the NICU.” The nurses tried to make the experience as less frightening as possible by having normal, everyday conversations with the Carlsons, answering the same question over and over each day to help reassure them. As the end of their NICU stay drew closer, the Stormont Vail Health team warned the Carlsons that one twin could come home before the other one. Levi started to reach the point of being on a "countdown" to going home before Amelia, due to his ability to eat. Levi was released from the NICU after 31 days on August 19, 2018 on his one-month birthday. Big brothers, Hunter and Emmett, were thrilled to have their brother home and finally get to hold him. Four days later, on August 23, 2018, Amelia was released from the NICU after 35 days. The Carlsons had an emotional celebration that morning with the nurses, physicians and speech therapist who helped their babies grow. They were so excited to have all of their children at home together. The Carlsons thank their families and everyone at Stormont Vail’s NICU, from the front desk support staff to the physicians, for all the support, comforting words, encouraging pep talks and all the knowledge that helped their babies thrive. They wanted share their story to help show that although the NICU is not where you hope your little ones will be when they enter this world, that the research and training staff receive with the help of March of Dimes, families are given reassurance their baby or babies are in wonderful hands.