Pics from the day the boys were born

Me right after being prepped for surgery and waiting for them to come get me.

Eric and I talking about something really important :)

Here I am with the anesthesiologist, Dr. Carter. During the surgery, we were joking around and told him how he was such a great doctor and we were going to name one of the boys after him. He thought it was pretty funny and told us he tends to have that effect on people.

Eric sending out mass text messages letting people know the boys were going to arrive soon.

Here we are...soon to be parents!

Here we are with my dad and sister, Kaylyn. My family was so excited! It was great they were there the whole time.

Here we are with my mom and sister. I'm so glad my mom was with me the whole day.

Here we go! They wheeled me in and Eric had to wait right outside the OR until I was prepped. He probably thought something was wrong because it took so long-they couldn't get some of the monitors to turn on!

The last belly picture!

The day the boys were delivered, my mom had her camera with her and took my picture while I was waiting for my last ultrasound. Little did I know I was going to meet them later that day! This was when I was 34 6/7 weeks preggo.

Early baby pictures not yet posted

Here are some pictures from when we brought home the babies and their first doctor's appointment. They've been on our other computer and I completely forgot about them!

Me giving Carter his last bottle at the hospital.

Eric buckling Carter in.

Brandt all ready to go home

Donna, one of our favorite NICU nurses with the boys before we left. She was great and really stocked us up with baby stuff when we left.

Eric bringing the babies from the car.

Introducing the boys to their room.

Putting the boys down for the first time.

This is the morning after we brought them home. We all survived the first night!!

Proud Daddy with his boys waiting for the doctor's office to open up. (this might be the last time we're early for anything again!)

After naptime stretch!

Eric and I get a kick out of waking up the boys for their feedings and watching them stretch. We swaddle them tightly since that is what they did in the hospital and, well, they go to sleep easily when they are wrapped up tight like a burrito. It's just so funny, though, to unwrap them and see them stretch.



Here's a video of them stretching. As a disclaimer, I'm not naked in the video! I was still in my shower wrap so my shoulders were bare! :)

Baby Brain....

Eric and I have baby brain...badly! It's a good thing the boys are too young to realize how their parents can be such aloof idiots!

This morning was going to be our first outing that wasn't for a doctor appointment for the boys. I had to go to the OB for another checkup, swing by work real quick, and then we needed to go by the hospital Eric is going to be at for the next month for his trauma surgery rotation. Since Dr. McKernan wanted to see the boys, we were going to bring them with us and take care of all of our errands.

The boys had a feeding at 2:30 in the morning. We figured we could let them go until 6 (3.5 hours from their last feeding) and then feed them right before we left for my 7 am appointment. We knew it would kind of pushing their schedule, but we needed as much time between feedings. I woke up at 5 and planned to leave by 6:30. I planned to get myself ready as fast as I could and then help out Eric to finish getting the boys ready.

Well, with my little bit of planning (or lack thereof), we completely underestimated the time it takes to get ourselves ready and get both the boys fed and ready to go out. At 6:30 (the time I needed to leave), we were both still feeding the boys. I just needed to get my outfit on, Eric still had to get ready. So, we scrapped that idea of taking the boys to see Dr. McKernan and I left and went by myself.

I came back after the appointment and we left to go by my office at 8:30. Now, normal people would realize that the boys needed to eat at 9 (6+3=9) since we are on a 3 hour schedule during the daytime. We got to work and were saying hi to coworkers when the boys were getting a little fussy. I wanted to make a quick trip around the office to show off our cutie pies, but they just kept getting fussier and fussier! It turned into a "hello! Yes, I'm alive and so are the boys. See you later!!" By this time it was after 9.

We got in the car and started driving to the hospital and the boys were ballistic. Only then did we recalculate the feeding schedule. We were starving our boys! It was almost 10! We felt so badly. As soon as we were able, we parked the car and fed them in the hospital parking garage. I think they are still mad at us for making them wait so long.

Oh goodness...if Eric and I can't even keep up with their feeding schedule, we're doomed! I guess this is what little sleep and baby brain does to you!

More Professional Pictures

These pictures were also taken by Chrissie. Since she was a hospital employee, she was able to come back to the NICU and take these pictures. They were taken before the ones in the previous post, but oh well!

Here is Brandt
Here is Carter.

Eric holding Carter.

Here is Brandt in his NICU bed will all his teddy bears.

Chrissie posed both boys in one of their NICU beds. I love these!

Baby feet!

Professional Pictures

While we were in the hospital, we made friends with a lady who knew my uncle, who works in the ER. This lady, Chrissie, turned out to be such a great friend while I was in the hospital for the deliveries and while I was in being sick. Chrissie does professional photography and offered to take pictures for us as a gift. We were so thrilled. Below are some of the pictures we love.