Newborn Professional Photos

I have been meaning to post these pictures. They were taken when the babies were just 1 week old by a friend and amazing photographer Katie. She also made our birth announcements.






























It's amazing how much they've grown in 5 months!

5 months old

Little Landon and Miss B are now closer to the ½ year mark and growing! According to mama’s scale Landon is approx. 14 lbs and Brighton is 14 ½. They are still wearing 3-6 month clothes although many of Landon’s are still too big. They are also wearing size 2 diapers and drinking 6 oz of milk.

We have had a big month! We loaded the kids up in the car for a 4th of July family reunion (SFR ’09!) in Virginia/Washington DC which was great fun! The twins were blessed in my sister’s home on July 5th by their daddy. It was very touching and we all felt the love from our family and Heavenly Father that day!
While at my sister's house we decided to give Brighton and Landon their first taste of rice cereal. Brighton probably got more down the front of her then what she actually swallowed. Landon sat with it in his mouth and looked at us with that “what the heck is this, Mom?” look. Then he swallowed it and wanted more! He didn’t get much on him!


Brighton and Landon also tried out the pool for the first time. While at the reunion we all went to the water park but chose not to put the babies in the water due to it being too cold. But, on the way home at the hotel the water was just the right temp and we all enjoyed some time out of the car in the pool. More swimming pictures will also be added when we update with the reunion pictures. After we returned home from SFR Landon learned to roll from his back to his tummy and the next day Brighton rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time. She has repeated it once or twice since, but hasn't really shown an interest. Although I think she will be the first to sit. She hates laying down on her back and is always lifting her head off the bed wanting to sit. She loves the Bumbo which my boys never took to. It has been a pretty busy summer and lots of changes in the twins! We sure are enjoying them!

4 Months Old!

Our babies are 4 Months old! Wow, how time flies. It's proven that we have 2 very different babies.

Our babies are both...
Sleeping 10-12 hours each night. In bed asleep by 7-8pm and awake again at 7am! This is new for Brighton, but Landon's been on this schedule for a while. Drinking 5 1/2 oz bottles at each feeding every 3 hours while awake. Haven't tried cereal or other foods yet, although we've gotten the go-ahead from the Pediatrician. Mama wants to wait until they are 6 months old to start.

Brighton

Brighton is 13 lb 4 oz and 24 inches long (30% w/h)
Wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes, but some 0-3 month.
Wearing size 2 diapers.
Not rolling over yet. She is lifting her head and chest off the the bed during tummy time, but not as high or as long as her brother.
Is a snuggler! She loves to be held close to your chest or snuggled into your arms. Loves to rock in the glider.
She doesn't care to burp much, it's a petite little girly burp when she does.
Loves to be in the room, in the middle of the action. She is very easy going and will sit and watch everything around her.
Sleeps on her back or side in her crib. She moves quite a bit in her sleep and often wakes up after 40-45 minutes. She prefers the catnap to actual sleep! She can doze off pretty much anywhere and does often. Sometimes she will surprise us though and will sleep a good long stretch with her brother.
Very much resembles her big brother Nick.
Has a very soft spot in her heart for her daddy.

Landon

Landon is 12 lb 14 oz and 24 3/4 inches long (7% w/ 30% h)
Wearing both 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes. The length on 0-3 is getting too short for him, but the 3-6 are really too big on him.
Wearing size 2 diapers loosely.
Is rolling over from tummy to back and lifts his head and chest off the bed like a champ!
Can burp like his big brothers. He is all boy. They come quick and are quite loud! His brothers are proud of this talent!
Doesn't like to sit still. He is moving his limbs all around all the time. He does like being held, but when he's tired...he's tired! He will fuss until you put him down in his crib. Once he's comfortable and asleep he doesn't move much at all. He is a very sound sleeper and sleeps on his tummy in his crib. When he's down for a nap in his crib he will sleep for 3-4 hour stretches some of the time.
Spitting image of his brother Carter.

They are both so much fun to have around. Landon loves to get your attention by freely giving big, flashy, gummy smiles and will chuckle out loud. Brighton is just very sweet and has a much softer personality. She smiles a lot with her eyes and will give a very sweet grin when you talk to her. When she's really excited she will smile very wide to which her eyes almost dissapear! Both babies have very bright, very blue eyes!

Carter and Nick are still adjusting to a summer with a pre-occupied mom, but they are doing well. They both want to play video games non-stop (mom doesn't let them), but when prompted to read Nick will get engrosed in a book and not put it down until he's read the whole thing! This weekend Nick and I went shopping and we stopped at the book store to get him some books for our road trip. He picked one up and read it walking through the mall, sitting on the floor of the children's department and the men's department at Macy's and the entire ride home. Multiple people stopped to ask what he was reading because he literally had his nose in the book the ENTIRE time! Carter will often be found lying on the floor of his room flipping through books and if tired he will put himself down for a nap without telling mom. He practices his letters and has learned how to spell his name. Often we will hear him say "Ba..ba..ba..Brighton". He is starting preschool this summer and will be going full-time (7:30a-5:30p) 3 days a week. He went to this school full-time in the infant room when I was working and we really love the school and his new teacher, Ms. Stacie. Nick was previously in Ms. Stacie's room and she is wonderful! Carter recently started saying his nightly prayers by himself and is very proud of himself each time he does.

Our life is very full with our children right now and feel very blessed to be entrusted with such beautiful loving children!

So much change, so little time to post...

Well it's now June which means I'm about to celebrate a birthday, again. Brighton and Landon are now 4 months old and growing like weeds. Zann took all 4 kids to the doctor for the twins checkups. Landon's Laryngomalacia is still present, but he sounds clear and he isn't retracting. He weighs 12lbs 14oz and is 24 3/4" long. Brighton wasn't standing for him passing her at the last check-up. She is 13lbs and 4oz and is 24" long.

Their personalities are starting to show and it is so fun to see how individual each are. Earlier it was always "the twins, this and that," but it's almost unnatural now. They are so different.

Landon is the wiggler. He is always exploring the world with his hands and feet. Tonight I caught him concentrating on his hands and controlling them around. He even managed to get his own binkie when he was down in his crib.

Brighton is, in a word...easygoing. Her big bright blue eyes just take in all around her. It takes a lot to get her to fuss. She is all girl. I never thought it would be so cool to dress a girl in pink.

We recently celebrated a milestone in twin life, both are sleeping through the night on a regular basis.

Nick finished 1st grade with outstanding grades in his standard class and his advanced studies. I questioned if he was my kid. :) I cannot believe his progress.

Carter is all boy, rough and tumble to the core. His energy is invigorating. He still comes to the door when I come home and is so excited to see me. NOTHING IS BETTER.

Nick and Carter have adjusted to twins well. Nick is a lifesaver for Mom during the day. He is so willing to help. Carter has moved from baby of the family to wanting to "be big like Nick." He's measuring everything in relative terms. It is fun! Exhausting, but fun to be a part of this development.

We're all set for a family trip to DC this summer for the Smith Family Reunion. It is going to be crazy, fun and memorable on so many levels. We're holding off blessing the babies until then.

Well, its Tuesday and more week to go. I better sign off and get to bed.

Sleepless ramblings

The babies are six weeks old. It's amazing how quickly time passes when you are taking each day 3 hours at a time. Things have been crazy with feedings, changings, snugglings, kissings and very little sleepings. Clearly I can't think straight and so updating the blog just doesn't happen very often. Here are few nuggets of what's been going on.

I recently took the babies to their 4 week appointment. We learned that we have a couple of good growers on our hands! In 2 weeks Brighton has grown 20 ounces and is up to 8lb 2oz, 21 1/4 inches long. Landon has grown 25 ounces and is 7 lb 14 oz, 21 inches long. They are doing great! Landon has been nick-named "the squeaker" because of the highpitched noises he makes. I brought up the frequent squeaking and the fact that he often looks like he is having difficulty breathing to the doctor. Dr. F believes that Landon may have Larygomalacia. This is basically an immature voicebox. Some infants are born with cartilage in the voicebox that is still soft and collapses upon inspiration causing an obstructed airway. We found that Landon is affected mostly after eating and when he gets upset and is taking deep breaths in, causing him to gasp, flare the nostrils and make these sounds. We can feel a vibration in his chest when this is happening. We have an appointment with the pediatric ENT for Tuesday. Hopefully we will get good news. Overall the babies are doing great and the pediatrician is happy with their growth.


All bundled up and ready to go!

I am surprised that I can type a coherent sentence since I have been getting less than 2 hours of sleep at a time for the last 6 weeks. The twins seem to have learned that nighttime is for sleeping however and the last 2 nights have been relatively easy. They are still waking to eat every 3 hours but will quickly fall back asleep with a little swaddling. I have learned to rub the tops of their heads and their little cheeks if they are restless and it will usually get them back to sleep in no time. They are sleeping together and seem to like being close to their twin.



Someone asked me the other day if I always dress Brighton in pink and Landon in blue. Wow, I really do. It is rare that they are in anything other than pink and blue. If Brighton is swaddled in a blue blanket the boys will almost refuse to believe that she isn’t Landon. I guess I’m going to have to add some other color into her wardrobe. Speaking of clothes…I finally went out to purchase some clothes for my twins. Outside of newborn/preemie outfits I really hadn’t purchased anything for them. Well, Gymboree recently opened right up the street and I had my first outing alone without babies. Oh I don’t think anyone could have wiped the smile off my face all morning. They have the cutest girl clothes!!! The boy clothes are fabulous as well, but the girly stuff is adorable! I was definitely a little overwhelmed by the fact that I could look at both sides of the store and pick out both boy and girl items. It was soo fun.

Here are some random pictures of the family...


Nick with the babies


Landon snuggling with Daddy


Sleep-deprived parents...


Mama rocking both babies





The new haircuts Daddy gave the boys!

Mama loves bows!!

This is why I needed a girl!

1 Week Old

Brighton and Landon turned 1 week old yesterday.  It is a great milestone for these little ones. The story of this past week is rooted in their birth.  Both kids were born healthy and didn't need to go to NICU or SCU.  With those blessings, they still had issues with Jaundice and had to be on the bili-lights.  Landon lost 10% of his weight in the first 48 hours and caused concern combined with other factors (high bili levels, not eating well, low temp).  Landon has already started gaining weight, which is a big deal given his starting weight and how much he lost in the first 48 hours.  He was born at 5 lbs. 7 oz. and lost a total of 10 oz., since then he has gained 4 oz.  Brighton has been doing great.  She is a quiet baby thus far and rarely cries.  

They have a follow-up appointment with the doctor tomorrow and we hope they continue to trend to the positive. 

This weekend we had a friend come to the house and take newborn pictures.  We are looking forward to seeing the end results.  Thanks to Katie for her efforts.

Dad is doing well, despite the general lack of sleep.  So far, we have been blessed by having them on the same feed/wake/sleep cycle.  It makes taking care of the two manageable. Dad cannot seem to take a nap, even though the situation has presented.   Instead choosing to play with Nick or Carter, update FB, uploading the nearly 500 pictures taken this past week, or running a errand or two.

Mom is amazing!  She is up and around with a great outlook on this adventure (I'll let her reveal as much about her recovery as she wants).  She is caring the load when it comes to the babies.  Dad does all he can, but Mom does have the food.  It is amazing to watch her at 3 AM. She ogles at them although she is so sleepy.  

Nick and Carter are still excited about their babies siblings.   We thought we might see jealously issues with Carter, but we haven't seem much yet.  It might be reduced because Grandma Smith is helping out so much.

Speaking personally, I cannot imagine going through these initial weeks without help.  Grandma allows Zann to focus on the babies, me to focus on Zann and Grandma does everything else.  What a blessing. 

A New Chapter Begins...

Well, it happened at 37 weeks 4 days, Saturday morning. Zann had just fixed the whole family a great big breakfast. We were joking over breakfast about Valentine's Day babies. Turns out the joke was on us. Zann's water broke at 10:20 am on February 14, 2009, Valentine's Day. Good thing Grandma Smith was already here waiting to get the show on the road. I called the doctor who said we would be having babies today. I also called Ashlynn who got approval from the hospital to be with us in the O.R. Kimberly, one of Zann's friends, was also called as she was going to be one of the nurses helping.
I grabbed the bags, told Nick and Carter that it was time for the babies to come out and got the stuff in the car. Only one thing was missing....Zann! She decided to shower, do her hair and make-up. We got into the car about an hour later and got to the St. John's Mercy by 12 PM. It was a great experience when we got there. There were so many of Zann's former co-workers and friends working that they really made us feel welcome. The reception was unprecedented. By the time we got there, Ashlynn had called them (she also works at St. John's in L&D), the doctor had called L&D, and Kimberly the other Nurse had called. It seemed like they were waiting for us and already had things rolling for us.
Zann was admitted by 1 PM and we were waiting for a C-section time. We thought, we might have to wait a few hours because of the big breakfast. We were surprised to find out that we had a 2 PM time for the O.R. WHAT! That was only an hour away. So much for waiting.
Zann as a L&D nurse has seen countless c-section deliveries. I could only wonder what she was thinking laying horizontal this time. I have to say, it was certainly a relaxing experience, which absolutely surprised me. I could not believe how relaxed we both were.

We welcomed Brighton Zoe into the world at 2:22 PM and Landon Crew was born within the same minute. Still Brighton was born first, so the only girl to the Erb Klan will always have that to her advantage. Brighton weighed in at 5lbs 14oz 18.75" long. Landon weighed in at 5lbs 7oz and 18.5" long. Zann had a great experience by my account. The surgical team was a well oiled team that made the atmosphere truly relaxing.


With Grandma Smith at home with Nick and Carter, it has allowed me to be with Zann constantly. It has been great have this experience with her. My work has been great too. I have been able to arrange a couple of weeks off to enjoy the experience and have hands on.

Brighton and Landon are now 72 hours old. Both were put on Bili-lights today (jaundice), Landon has lost 10% of his weight so far, and given his birth weight, is a moderate concern, but neither has been in the NICU, or Special Care Unit--for twins this is very good. We've had to alter our plans to breast-feed exclusively due to these issues, but we are hoping this will be temporary.

Their Bili-lights give the room a great U/V glow. :)

We have had a peaceful experience all in all. There are moments of chaos, but they pass. The babies are still sleeping most of the time, but we think that they will start to wake-up tonight or tomorrow.

36 Weeks!

Holy smokes. I'm 36 weeks pregnant. Dr. H will not stop these babies from coming out now. What an exciting and frightening thought.

I had more monitoring done at the Perinatal Center today. Wasn't I just there? These weekly appointments are coming really fast. I can't believe we will be holding both babies so soon!

Janet at the PNC asked about the babies movement during the week. I have been a little concerned that I was not feeling baby B move as much as baby A. I could mess with him and then he'd move, but for the most part he was just taking it easy. Or so I thought...the babies were both definitely moving. Of course on the monitor they were crazy active. They both had heart rates in the high 160's and they had accelerations at the same time. A quick peak at the ultrasound showed why. The babies are lying head to head both in my left upper quadrant. My girl (baby A) is still breech with her legs and feet in my lower right quadrant and her arms/hands around my belly button area. My boy (baby B) is transverse with his legs coming around the right side of my abdomen with his feet kicking her feet and his arms/hands in punching distance of her hands. So, all the moving and kicking that I've been feeling has been both babies kicking each other. The slight movement I've felt higher (which I thought was the boy) was actually the twins punching each other. Nice. I'm in for some trouble when these two get here.

I saw Dr. H at the office after my monitoring. My fluid levels are great (around 20), I'm measuring 45 weeks (44 a week ago) and he's happy with how everything is progressing. My BP was borderline, but not a surprise. The best part of the exam is that I lost 5 lbs in one week! So, the crazy 6 lb weight gain last week was a fluke. It had to have been a bunch of water retention. So, I'm still on track with my weight gain goal.

Only 5 more days until Mom flies in from Florida. I figure if I go into labor in the next day or two I'll at least just be getting out of the hospital about the time she will arrive. Yay! I really didn't want to mess up Great Granmother's 90th Birthday party and it looks like at this point Mom will not have to fly in early, so she will definitely be at the party. Phew.

Daddy is out with Carter this afternoon for some special one-on-one time while Mama is hanging out at the house waiting for the UPS guy. It's eerily quiet around here. I am going to relish in the silence for as long as I have it. It won't be long before this peaceful bliss turns into a whirl of baby sounds and smells and activity.

35 Week Appointment

I had an appointment with the Perinatal Center yesterday to be followed up with Dr. H. Brady took the day off work to go to the appointment with me. I had a rough weekend pregnancy-wise and he wanted to make sure that everything was ok.

We thought that we were just going for some monitoring, but to our surprise we got a growth ultrasound in addition to our regular appointment. The ultrasonographer Krisha was amazing as usual. She took measurements of both the babies. Our girl is a whopping 5lb 11oz! Our boy is 5lb 4oz! I am carrying 11 lbs of baby in this uterus. Both babies are doing great, although they still won't change position, so a c/s it is. Susan performed my NST and was a little concerned about my swelling. She said that I looked quite a bit different from a week ago. I had noticed it as well. Plus, I think I got the "you won't make it another week, I'm surprised you're here" comment a dozen times at church on Sunday. Obviously I was looking like I felt, swollen and crummy.

Dr. H wasn't concerned though. My BP was fine at the office (although it had been high over the weekend), my constant cramping is normal, swelling is normal, etc. The only thing that concerned me, that I didn't mention because I didn't figure it out until later last night was that I gained 6 lbs in one week! That has to be due to all the swelling in my feet, hands and face. So much for great delivery pictures, but at least the water weight will fall off within a couple of days of delivery.

I can't complain (well, I complain just fine actually, but I shouldn't...), things are going well and I've had a great pregnancy. I'm just ready to have these babies. My c/s is scheduled for Tuesday Feb. 17th at 10:45am. I wouldn't mind having them earlier, but Mom won't be here until the 7th, so it will have to be after that. So, only 21 more days. Brady and Mom think I need to take it easy and just rest. Mom says to leave the housework for when she gets here. Can Mom come visit without a spotless house? I think I would have a panic attack.

Here come the contractions...

I started contracting during church. I thought maybe it was the hustle to get there by 9am, since we are used to 1pm church that brought them on. I hoped that by sitting during the first meeting they would subside, but they didn't. They were hard painful contractions and made me nauseated every time they hit. They even brought me to tears a few times. I was teaching yesterday and they weren't very consistent in their frequency so I stayed and toughed it out. I had a bout of contractions like this the weekend before, but not as painful and eventually I was able to fall asleep during them and they had stopped by morning.

After our meetings, I came home and decided to lay down. At about 4pm I called Dr. H because the contractions were coming between 5-8 minutes apart for a few hours and not letting up. And they hurt! So, after discussing our options I decided to stay home and try some Procardia to see if it would stop the contractions. I've given Procardia many many times to patients and usually it worked, but sometimes not. Thankfully about an hour after taking the Procardia the contractions slowed to 2-3 an hour, but just like clockwork they started back up again right before my next dose of the med was due. At this point I am taking it every 6 hours, but we'll see what the next few weeks bring.

Well, at the doctor on Monday the babies looked really good, but the stinkers are in no position to be delivered without surgical intervention! Baby A is still breach and Baby B is still transverse. But, they are growing like they should and I have almost 8lb's of baby in me! Baby A (our girl) is 3lb 13oz (51%) and Baby B (our boy) is 3lb 15oz (54%). Only a 3% difference in weight is excellent. I had told Dr. H about my contractions during the last week and he let me know that he was on-call this weekend so to call if I needed him. So, I didn't hesitate to call when the contractions started up again.

Our next appointment is next week when the Perinatal Center will start monitoring (MBPP-modified biophysical profile) the babies. I'm not sure that we will have anymore ultrasounds for growth, but Dr. H will still do them in his office for positioning etc. Then we move on to weekly appointments. This pregnancy has flown. I can't believe that in possibly 3 weeks we could have a couple of babies! Hoping of course for a few more than that.