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'American Idol' alum Colton Dixon says 1 of his twins was born 'without a pulse'

The singer and new father opens up about the moment he prayed while medical staff rushed to save one of his daughters.
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‘American Idol’ alum Colton Dixon opens up about praying the moment one of his twin daughters was born “without a pulse.”Paul Archuleta / Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

Colton Dixon recently became a first-time father two times over, as he and wife Annie welcomed twin daughters Ava Dior and Athens Elizabeth to the world on Aug. 18.

But now, just weeks after their arrival, the “American Idol” alum is opening up about the brief moment when he thought only one of his girls would survive.

According to the Christian rock singer, even though his wife had “the perfect pregnancy," the same couldn’t be said of the delivery. After 30 hours in labor, an emergency cesarean section revealed something was wrong.

“We never expected our little Ava Dior would arrive in the world without a pulse,” Dixon told People.

He explained that “in that moment, we had a choice: faith or fear.” The “Miracles” singer then said they chose faith.

“We watched and prayed as the doctors and nurses resuscitated our daughter back to life,” he recalled.

Ava Dior required several days in the hospital’s NICU before she could join her sister and parents back home.

"Life doesn't always happen the way we want it to, but we believe that life is more about the way we respond to things than what happens to us,” the 28-year-old added. “We thank God and our amazing doctors and nurses for our two little miracles."

Before the arrival of the little girls, Dixon shared a photo of matching family shoes on Instagram, along with the message that the couple plans to “teach the twins to follow in our footsteps.”

That could mean a musical future for the newborns whose father got his big break on season 11 of “American Idol” in 2012. Dixon started out as a fan favorite on the series but didn’t make it past the Top 7.

But these days, thanks to his now-healthy daughters, he feels like a big winner.