Brennan and his wife, Lesa, were devastated when their 20-month-old daughter, Victoria, ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ ᴀᴡᴀʏ from Kʀᴀʙʙʟᴇ ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ in March 2016, and the incredible ʟᴏss made him even more determined to have an initial bond with his identical twins.
After her C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ, Lesa knew her husband would want to have skin-to-skin contact with the couple’s twin sons. He did the same thing with their first child and the memory of her flesh on his is one he will never forget.
Erin Fortney Photography captured the heartwarming moment Brennan, from Hershey, Pennsylvania, held his sons Isaiah and Caleb to his bare chest when they were born on April 24.
Skin-to-skin contact, otherwise known as kangaroo care, is a parenting practice that involves placing your newborn baby on your bare chest instead of using an incubator. It’s believed to have many potentially beneficial qualities for both you and your little one. It aids in the relaxation of mothers, the early bonding of father and child, and the body regulation of the most fragile newborns. Apart from all of that, it also makes for an extremely lovely photograph.
One of the touching photos from inside the delivery room shows one of the doctors handing Brennan his son, who appears to be reaching out to him.
Attachment, bonding, and a warm relationship with you help your baby feel safe and secure. This lays the foundation for all areas of your baby’s development.
Brackbill praises her husband for informing hospital personnel of his need for skin-to-skin contact after her second C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ and forgiving each of their newborn sons the post-birth hugs he required.
Brennan was afraid that the staff would find his suggestion somewhat weird, but he explained why this was so important to him and everybody in the room thought it was absolutely heartwarming.
“Look, I don’t want to be pushy. It’s your or,” he told the medical staff. “However, this is very important to us because of our daughter. I’ve got a big wingspan and I’ll go shirtless under my OR garb if I have to. They quickly agreed that would work.”
Both parents were having skin-to-skin contact with their newborn babies and a photographer was present to capture and immortalize this beautiful moment. After a while, it was Caleb’s turn.
After holding Isaiah for 10 minutes, he then cuddled Caleb. They were even able to lay the babies on Lesa’s chest for a short amount of time. Brennan said he continued to have skin-to-skin contact with his sons once they were back in their hospital room.
