Many people have asked me where the name Sova came from. Sova is actually a made up word combining the names "Sophia" and "Ava". Sophia & Ava are my twin nieces (daughters of Lori) who were really the original inspiration for my interest in photography.
In the fall of 2003 these little beauties made an early appearance in the world. They had a syndrome called Twin to Twin Transfusion where their circulatory systems were connected inside the womb, causing one twin to get too much blood & nutrients and the other not enough. At 28 weeks, the smaller one had stopped growing, and doctors made a risky decision to remove them and hope they would make it. It was a tough call because the odds of survival weren't great (they were smaller than normal 28 wk babies), but they were even less if nothing was done.
I remember anxiously awaiting their arrival in the hallway. We had just made phone calls to their dad (my brother Allan - who was stationed in Egypt with the Army) and to other groups of friends & family who were all fervently praying for their safety and awaiting the news. I remember when the nurse rolled out the first baby girl to take her through the tunnel over to Children's Hospital. She was the smallest thing I had ever seen. Sophia Mae - 2 lbs, 13 oz. When I found out she was the bigger of the two girls, I couldn't imagine what her sister must look like. After some close calls and multiple attempts at getting the little one ventilated, Ava Grace - a mere 17 oz, finally joined her sister in the NICU.
Long story short - we had many months in the hospital to come to know & adore these little ones. Because very few people were allowed in their room, we took tons of pictures in order to introduce them to the world. And I began to get excited about the fun pictures we could take when they were finally home and we didn't have incubators and ventilators and monitor cords in the way. My grandmother was one of those we sent a lot of pictures to. She was never able to meet her great-granddaughters and passed away while they were in the hospital. It seemed like an appropriate purchase to spend her inheritance money on a nice camera that we could use to continue to enjoy these little girls.
The girls grew & healed & thrived in a way that we could never have asked for. They just got more healthy and more beautiful with each day and I've now spent almost 5 years annoying them with my camera in their face! So it's only right that I leave them alone & expand my photography energies to some other poor kids now.
Ava Grace
Sophia Mae
One of the girls' first times being held together with mom.
Finally leaving the hospital!
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