DOUBLE MIRACLE

Song Introduction: "Double Miracle"
Our twins are finally about to celebrate their third birthday. Although we had already raised three older children, raising twins proved to be far more exhausting than we ever imagined.

They arrived a month before their due date and struggled with shallow breathing at first. Both were admitted to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Even after moving to the GCU (Growing Care Unit), they were too weak to nurse properly. Until the day they were discharged, my spouse and I went to the hospital every single day. I can still vividly remember those days, leaning over them, calling their names, and doing our best to help them drink their milk.

During their first year, we spent countless sleepless nights dealing with midnight cries and frequent vomiting. From age zero to one, they were constantly falling ill-sometimes together, sometimes one after another. We rushed to the emergency room more times than I can count. I remember the heartbreak of leaving the hospital ward while my son screamed for me to stay. On one occasion, they were re-admitted just a day after being discharged; I remember sitting in the emergency waiting room, feeling utterly lost.

When they were eighteen months old, both twins caught COVID-19 and were hospitalized. Because no visitors were allowed, we spent every day until their discharge feeling as though we would be crushed by anxiety, constantly wondering, "Are our children going to be okay?"

Even after that, we rarely had a moment's peace. One morning, one twin suffered a seizure and had to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance. The other was diagnosed with pediatric asthma, requiring a nebulizer every single night. I stayed constantly glued to rain and typhoon reports, knowing that changes in barometric pressure would make it hard for him to breathe. Once, when blood suddenly came from one of their ears on a holiday, we spent hours searching for an available clinic and then driving from pharmacy to pharmacy to find the prescribed medicine.

Since turning two, the frequency of their illnesses has suddenly dropped. Now, they eat heartily, run around everywhere, laugh, and grow rapidly before our eyes.

Looking back on these three years, there were countless times I felt overwhelmed, but not once did I ever feel like I had had enough. Even when I caught their illnesses and suffered alongside them, I never felt a single moment of resentment.

To be honest, it was difficult to condense all the complex emotions of these three years into a song just over two minutes long. However, as I looked back on our journey, a flood of emotions-worry, anxiety, love, joy, encouragement, failure, and hope-surged within me, and this song was born.

The first verse captures the anticipation we felt before they were born, and the second verse holds our feelings as they reach their third birthday. The outro is only eight bars long, but it represents a reflection on these three years and the pure joy of seeing them grow up healthy and strong.