Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly missed two December games in the 2021 season. At an emotional press conference before he returned to the field, the former Alabama All-American shared why he’d been out — the premature birth and death of his daughter, Mary Kate Kelly.

The next year, Kelly and his wife, Emma, decided to be more open with their story, hoping that by sharing what they had learned and talking about their loss, they could shine a light on and expand the reach of organizations that are helping parents in their situation. The couple wanted to “make others feel like they are not alone because they’re not,” Emma Kelly said at the time.

On Tuesday, the Kellys shared another baby story, but with a happier outcome as they and their twin sons Duke and Ford appeared on NBC’s “Today.”

But first, Emma Kelly recalled the pain of losing her daughter 19 weeks into pregnancy.

“Suddenly in less than 24 hours, you go from setting up your child’s nursery to someone telling you that you should start thinking about arrangements,” Emma Kelly said.

The boys arrived in June, but they were three months early and weighed 2 pounds each. They spent 85 days in the hospital.

“The battles that they faced from Day 1, I think, were so steep,” Ryan Kelly said. “But every moment of every day they just did so much better. They conquered everything. And so it took us a couple of weeks to hold them, and then when you finally hold them, they’re so small and you’ve always dreamed of this moment, and coming full circle from holding our daughter for the last time and the first time to holding these guys knowing it’ll only be one of millions is amazing.”

Emma Kelly said she and her husband had coped with tragedy to find happiness.

“I feel it’s easy to get caught in the why-me,” Emma Kelly said. “Why did we lose our daughter? Why couldn’t we get pregnant for so long? It’s all we wanted. Why did we have to go through what we went through with our boys, having them an entire trimester early? But all that matters is that they’re here now, and perspective is everything. We’ve been through a lot, but we have each other. We have our boys and we’ve got our girl from above, so as long as you can keep all of that in perspective, it makes all of its survivable.”

Emma Kelly said her message to other prospective parents in difficult situations was: “Please don’t give up hope. There were so many times I wanted to, and we thought this day was never coming. You just go through so much negative and negative tests, and it really seems like there’s no end in sight and you’re never going to get what you want. But you got to hang in there. Don’t give up hope. And it’s OK to ask for help and realize you can’t go through this alone.”

Ryan Kelly is in his eighth season as the Indianapolis center. He joined the Colts as the 18th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, and he was chosen for the Pro Bowl in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

At Alabama, Kelly was a three-year starter. As a senior for the Crimson Tide’s CFP national championship game in 2015, Kelly received consensus All-American recognition and won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center.

Chasing the AFC South title and a playoff berth at 8-6 with three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Colts visit the Atlanta Falcons at noon CST Sunday.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.