Babies, babies, more babies

Addison and Brady Schmitz

Well, here they are. Addison Mae and Brady Thomas were born on Jan. 22, 2009 at 8:59 am. It was a long surgery but all went well considering it was my 3rd C section. Brady weighed 5lbs 10 oz and was 18 3/4 inches long. Addison weighed 5 lbs and was 17 inches long. Brady had some fluid in his lungs and some breathing issues so he spent 1 1/2 days in the NICU. Addison, though tiny, was able to come to my room right away. They are both super precious and we already wonder what life would have been like without them. Brady is very even tempered, patient, and loves to be bright eyed and just look around at what the world has to offer. Addison uses her voice to make up for her lack of size. She is a bit particular but loves to snuggle and seems to have a thing for her Daddy, which he is quite proud of.

We're having some feeding/latching issues with Addison on top of weight issues so we are not only 'tricking' her into latching but supplementing her feedings with formula so she doesn't have too much weight loss. Brady is a champ at latching, but is "gourmet" as the nurse called it and takes his time and enjoys his time at the feeding hole...in a nutshell, he's slow.

Grandma Vicki graciously stayed with Reagan and Brett on Wed-Friday evening so we could focus on the new ones. My parents were a huge help at the hospital on surgery day. My sister came and stayed with me at the hospital on Friday night so Scott could be with the older ones and get some good sleep. She then was at the house with the older ones on Sat night and Daddy was back with us. Thankfully the nurses in the nursery graciously took the babes to the nursery on Sat. night so Scott and I were able to get 7 hours of solid sleep. I was happy to sleep, but missed those little stinkers and was happy for them to return to our room on Sunday morning. Brady was cricumcised this morning and we were then discharged to come home. We came home to some anxious older siblings and a wonderful welcome home banner that Amanda helped them create. Reagan and Brett are very proud and are proving to be good helpers. Thanks to everyone for the prayers, well wishes and to our families for helping us....a new thing for us having never been in California and Japan when the other two were born.

See below for more pictures from Addison and Brady's first few days. Enjoy.

More pics

Mommy guilt wins

A couple of weeks ago when it had snowed and the temp. was not freezing I was having Mommy guilt that the kids had not yet been sledding this year. We have a slight hill on the side of our house so I took the kids out for a short while. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. They seemed to enjoy themselves and knew that Mom could only handle it for a short while so were troopers when I said it was time to be done. Daddy has plans to take them up to Reagan's school while he's off of work for baby leave to hopefully get in anther round of fun.

Baby day is fast approaching. The date was changed to Jan. 22, which is this Thursday. Surgery is at 8 am so we'll be at the U of I Hospital bright and early. We're anxious to see these new little ones and are so happy we've been able to keep them in and growing for nearly 38 weeks. Yippy! I'm anxious to get the surgery part over. Grandma Vicki, Scott's Mom, will be staying with the older kids for a few days and my sister will take over that part of it over the weekend. I'm hoping if all goes well we'll all be home on Sunday sometime, but we'll take it day by day. My next post should include baby pictures!!! Take care until then.

I know he looks like me but this was scary!!

Ok, I know Brett looks like me, but when I viewed this picture the resemblance was almost scary. I had a flash back to a picture I've seen of myself at around his age with just about the same hair do!!!
Reagan got a Hannah Montana dance mat for Christmas and it came with the Hannnah wig which Brett decided to model. I convinced him to keep it on long enough for a picture. I'm sure someday he'll hate me for this one. He is truly Momma's boy!!

Prego belly

I keep getting hounded about a prego photo so here it is. Reagan took it so it's crooked, but it works. We have a date set for the C section....it'll be Jan. 20th unless the stinkers decide to make an early appearance on their own. I'm excited to have a date set. I'm at 36 weeks currently and both seem to be growing, which is encouraging. Last Tues. the boy weighed 5lbs 5oz and the girl weighed 4lbs 10 oz, which was exciting news. These are estimates but I'm confident they'll both be in the 5lb ballpark when they are born. Baby B (the boy) gave us a scare on Tues at the appointment which turned my 1 hour apt. into 3 1/2 hours, an ultrasound, non stress test, and a bio life test of every movement they make for a half hour concluded that he must have been lying on his cord which was making his heart race then plunge. I've nicknamed them the tortoise and the hare. She's the tortoise, goes at her own pace, nothing to exciting, but gets things done in the end. He, the hare, either gets things done quickly then does nothing or procrastinates then puts forth effort right before the deadline. He's extreme, she sticks in the mid range and is content. Oh won't this be an interesting adventure!!!