It's a Boy.... and It's another boy!

It is official and we are finally glad we do not have to call them baby A & baby B anymore!

At 2:15pm on Tuesday 2-3-09 we were wonderfully blessed with two more sons. The above video is of Luke Davin Brandt, born first by about 10 seconds and weighing in at his corner at 5lbs 15oz. Our second, Leo Thomas Brandt, was already off to the NICU before I could put down my camera and grab the video. He weighed in at a feisty little 3lbs. 6 oz. Not much bigger than the last bass of the '08 fishing season but most definitely a keeper! Pictures to follow...

All are doing well, thanks for all your prayers!

DB

Today is the day!

The Babies are coming today!

Angela had a Dr. Appointment today and was told that they need to come out today. We will keep you all posted.... say a prayer.

DB

Super Bowl Warm Up Party

Like most Americans, I spent the few hours leading up to the Super Bowl with a home health nurse who performed a Biophysical Profile ("BPP") on the twins. Oh, other people were drinking beer and eating hamburger/velveeta/salsa dip out of a crock pot?

Anyway, the BPP tests the babies' heart rates, fluid levels, movements, and watches for the babies to do their "practice breathing." This was scheduled for Sunday as the doctors are watching the babies very closely at this point. Everything looked good, so the babies stay in for now.

Before arriving at out house, the nurse had visited two other mothers who were expecting twins and were about as far along in their pregnancy as I am. She sent both of those women to the hospital. At least one of them delivered yesterday. I guess I broke the streak.

Barb and Sarah were here. They were really hoping to see babies this weekend, but like me, are happy the little ones will have some more time to grow before they emerge. Staying home also allowed me to enjoy the great dinner and appetizers that Barb whipped up for us last night. Thanks Barb!

-Angela

A visit from Sarah!

What a great weekend, the visitors keep coming! Today Aunt Barb and my cousin Sarah came to visit me. My mom thinks they came to visit her. My dad said don't argue with a mommy with twins in her tummy.

We went to the barber today and I got a hair cut...cute don'tcha think? We also did a little shopping and picked up some Papa Murphy's pizza, one of my favorites!

Sarah and I are going to watch a movie tonight on the big TV. My dad is setting up the air mattress, sleeping bags & pillows. My dad is cool. He says mommy is cooler. either way I love my mommy & daddy.... Sarah and Aunt Barb too.

JL

Friday Night dinner concert

Friday night was also a special time. We had a visit from Ms. Liz and her husband Tyler. Ms. Liz was one of John's favorite teacher at Tutor Time.

We all enjoyed a wonderful Lasagna dinner, great conversation and a special concert performance by John. He performed a variety of songs that highlighted all his instrumental skills.

Friday's Blessing

Today we had a visit from our good friend Father Bob Hart. Some of you may remember him from our wedding or John's Baptism. Fr. Bob is the Pastor at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Oakdale.

Fr. Bob's visit today was a very special one. He came by today to give the babies and Angela a traditional Catholic blessing. He also managed to give up some great hugs! John really digs padre. He especially likes his cool "Jesus robe".

Fr. Bob will also be Baptising our twins this spring at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Heard Around the House

John: "Hey Mommy, you have a big tummy like Mr. Incredible."

More on Baby Watch '09

We had another growth scan yesterday where they measure the babies on ultrasound and then come up with estimated weights. Baby A remains in the 50th percentile for size and is estimated to weigh 5 lbs 7 oz. Baby B continues to lag behind and is now below the 2nd percentile for its gestational age for many of the measurements. They estimate B weighs 3 lbs 11 oz. These are not precise as the margin of error grows larger as the babies grow bigger. The doctors believe that the slow growth is related to an issue with Baby B's placenta. Even though B is small, it continues to demonstrate good functioning otherwise.

The doctors have been following us very closely and are performing twice weekly testing on the babies. If at any point something in the testing does not look appropriate, they will want to deliver the babies immediately. As long as the testing remains positive, and if the babies have not decided to emerge on their own, we are scheduled to deliver on February 9th.

Aunt Barb and cousin Sarah are coming up to visit this weekend. Any bets on whether they will offer to pick up some spicy Thai food, give me a foot massage, and slip a little Castor oil in my water in order to induce labor while they are here? (Only kidding, of course.)

Check back for further updates.

Angela's Big Day

No, there is no sign of the babies' arrival yet, so you all can calm down.

It used to be that an eventful day in my life was pulling off a scathing cross-examination of a witness, successfully serving up a complicated dinner recipe from that particular month's Fine Cooking magazine, enjoying a fun-filled day at the zoo with John and Davin, or perhaps meeting up with old friends for a nice glass of wine after work. However, now that my full-time job is growing babies, things have been a little more mundane.

But today, I changed out of my daily uniform (which consists of some type of sweat or pajama pants and one of Davin's X-Large t-shirts), and actually got out of the house for something other than my semiweekly doctor's appointments. Thank you to Tom and Karen for picking me up and taking me to see the movie The Wrestler. The babies and I give it 3 thumbs up. They seemed to really like it and were practicing some of the moves from the movie - or was that the popcorn and soda that had them jumping around?

And as if that wasn't enough, the whole family made a trip to Target later in the day. I don't know who is more excited about he foam pirate swords that made their way into the cart: John or Davin. My back is pretty ticked off about the amount of walking I did around the store, but sometimes you have to make a little sacrifice for the sake of your mental health.

Dad's into Billy Ray

Videos are not what they used to be for me. I remember back in the college days watching MTV's "120 minutes". It was literally 120 minutes of new cutting edge videos on Sunday nights. Today I do not even think MTV plays any videos, do they?

Anyway, I saw this video about a month ago and have a new appreciation for Billy Ray Cyrus. Don't worry, this is a 180 turn from the "achy breaky" days gone by. The song, "Someone said a prayer", is really something... good vocals, good lyrics and a nice musical score. It is nice to see another artist open to sharing the importance and influence of prayer.

I would be interested to hear comments on this video. Click on the "comments" link below to add your thoughts.

D

Training for the Pain

John has put on a Veggie Tales Sing-Along "show" for me approximately 10 times a day for the last week straight. While the "show" was quite entertaining the first couple of dozen times, the music is now getting a little painful to hear.

Having listened to this CD over and over again, I am sure I have now significantly built up my tolerance for pain. I guess John is doing his part to get me ready for delivering the babies. A couple more days of Veggie Tales concerts and I won't need an epidural - even if I have a c-section.

Making Snow angels

Check out my first snow angel! I made it after my snow surfing today

Extreme snow surfin'

Aside from the hours of listening to John singing and listening to his latest veggie tales CD, today was a rather non eventful day. Having said that, after 38 times of listening to the same CD it was time for someone to make a move.

With the nice weather, Mom decided John and dad needed to go out and have some late afternoon fun. They took John's Elmo surfin' toy and decided to try out the sport of snow surfing. Though Elmo was designed for inside use they were bored with that today and gave it a go outdoors. The results... lots of smiles, fun and snow in the boots.

Sunday Blues

Wow, what a temperature swing from the last couple of days. I think it hit 29f today!

Though it was a pretty nice day today, one of us spent the day inside lounging around, playing games and watching a couple movies while dad chipped away at the seemingly never ending home improvement projects. The other spent the day nurturing what looks like a medicine ball fused to her abdomen. By how she walks it looks like it might weigh that too. Oh, and "uncle Tom with hair" (John's way of telling the two apart) came to visit today, we all had lunch together.

Back to the medicine ball, it is alive and kicking today. Angela has been a real trooper these past 34 weeks, what a tough cookie! Over the past few weeks many of you have asked what you can do to help us. Well, there is one simple thing you each can do. Whenever you have a moment alone with God, simply pray for Angela. I like this wonderful prayer:

Gracious Father, Your Word, spoken in love, created the human family and Your Son, conceived in love, restored it to Your friendship. Hear the prayers of Angela who awaits the birth of her children. Calm her fears when she is anxious. Watch over and support her and bring her children into this world safely and in good health, so that as members of Your family she may praise You and glorify You through Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen.


peace to you all,

D

Boys? Girls? One of each?

Think you know?

Feel free to check out our gender poll (in the right column). We are curious as to what you think the gender of our babies will be. We will be giving free baby smells to all who participate.*

*all baby smells must be redeemed between 11pm - 6am Sunday through Saturday at the Brandt residence. Min. smell time of one hour.

Twins .... Or a Twelve Pack?

This photo was taken when we were in Miller over Thanksgiving. Can you guess which belly belongs to Angela and which one belongs to Leo?

Dad, who lives up there?

No, no, no, this was not taken today. At literally -20 this morning we have been just hanging around inside staying warm.

This shot was actually from two weeks ago. John and dad ventured out on a warm +10 day after a snowy night. John was investigating the peculiar clump of leaves near the top of the sugar maple tree in our front yard.

"Dad, who lives in dare" he said. I was quite surprised he knew it was a critters house! We talked about the grey squirrels and what they do in the winter. John was glad he gets to sleep in a warm bed at night.

And In This Corner, Weighing In At ...

Another doctor's visit and another growth scan today. Baby A is now up to 4 lbs 9 oz and Baby B is 3 lbs 2 oz. Although B continues to lag behind in growth, the doctor was happy that it put on 7 ounces in two weeks. As long as they both keep growing, they will not have to be delivered early and they can continue the ongoing cage match in my belly. B may be out of its weight class, but I think it can hold its own.

Countdown to Chaos

I find it almost impossible to image what our lives will be like in a few short weeks after the twins are born. As I sit typing to the unrelenting sounds of an overly-tired 3-year-old crying "Daddy, Daaady, Daddieeeee," I imagine it will be much the same - only louder and with less ascertainable demands for assistance coming at us in stereo.

As much as I want to bottle some of the quiet that will settle over our house in a few minutes so I can break it out again for a moment or two in the coming weeks, I also know that I'll soon wish I could bottle the smell of those two little bundles after their baths and the peaceful feeling that only comes from having a baby fall asleep in your arms.

There will no doubt be chaos in the form of sleepness nights and endless feedings, but in the scheme of things, those moments will be fleeting. We will then be blessed with years filled with giggles, hugs, silly dances and love.

So I say...bring on the chaos!