Nicholas Kimball Poor and Zachary Bennett Poor

Our identical twin sons Nicholas and Zachary were born on July 2, 1999 at 23.5 weeks gestation. The survival rate for babies this premature is extremely low. Despite the excellent care they received at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Nicholas lived for just 24 hours and Zachary for 52.

Like their sister Nia, our baby boys were born with blond hair and blue eyes. Unfortunately, their pictures also show the ravages of low birthweight (just over 1 pound each) and extensive life support equipment. Instead of posting their photos, we decided to include just their footprints because we so treasured the moments when their tiny hands curled around our fingers and those little feet gave us kicks. The prints also show that they inherited their dad's long second toe.

In honor of Nicholas and Zachary, Shep's grandmother Sidney Tynan is funding the construction of a village school in Cambodia (another link).

Although she will be raised as our "oldest," our hearts know that Nia is really our third child, and our sweet baby boys will always be loved and missed.

Nicholas Kimball Poor
Nicholas  
Zachary Bennett Poor
Zachary