Ventura County Browns

10 Months

2010-03-09T19:29:00.001-08:00

Four months ago We posted the babies 6th month Birthday. Yesterday the Cambria and Aegean were 10 months old. Aegean is cruising around whith his army crawl. Cambria rolls to her back, scoots on her head with her back arched, then rolls back to her stomach. Both are mobile, but Aegean has gotten fast enough that Cambria can't get away. We think Cambria is getting motivated to army crawl too.

We are having a great time as a family. We have also had several visitors. Sperry's Aunt Beverly, Ed, Cousin Janet, Brad, Kalena, and Landon.

Yesterday Laura checked on the babies after a nap to find Aegean standing in his crib. Both are eating Cheerios, and Aegean thought it was hilarious to feed daddy too. Cambria would rather keep the Cheerios for herself.

The Grandpa Mitch and Grammy have stayed, and Aunti Lynn is back from Florida.

The babies had their first babysitter, and 5 others ready to go.

Mom and Dad also celebrated Valentines Day/Mom's birthday dining in the dark while Grammy took care of the kids.

Six Month Old

2009-11-21T10:31:00.001-08:00

We celebrated our 6 month birthday last Sunday. We started solid food and more adventurous play. We went swinging for the first time, and Daddy is really excited that we both love skiing in the Jumperoo.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our first halloween as a pirate and a pumkin. We were on our own all month too. We seem to be getting it down, but rarely is there a moment where a baby doesn't need some sort of attention. Aegean is rolling over and spending most of his time on his belly. Cambria can roll, but prefers not to. We started sign language with the babies too. Cambria has started the diaper sign. At this point, I think she is just copying mommy.

Visit from the Browns and Eastmans

2009-10-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Brown and Uncle and Aunt Andrea and Rich were planning to come in mid-September. Uncle Tucker surprised us all by riding his motorcycle out from Colorado.

The babies continue to grow, but we haven't had a weigh in. We took care of a lot of projects over the week, so the house is nearly ready for mobile kids...

Aegean Takes the Lead

2009-09-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

Aegean passed Cambria in height and weight at the 4 month check-up. He weighed in at 12lbs 5.5 oz and she weighted in at 12 lbs 3 oz. He was 1/2 inch longer at 21.5 inches. Aegean continued to produce hemoglobin and is now 11 mg/dL. This is above the threshold that defines anemia so he can discontinue the supplemental iron.

We also had help from several coworkers and friends over the past few months:

Grammy Evans extended her stay for an extra 2 weeks. Grandpa Mitch is coming out for a few days before they both travel to London for a well deserved vacation. Aunt Andrea, Uncle Rich , and Grandma and Grandpa Brown will be out to visit shortly after. By the end of September we will be on our own until January.

The babies eat every 3.5-4 hours during the day and 4-5 hours at night. We usually feed them before bed by 9:30, again between 2-3 and in the morning. Dad gets up at 5:30 to feed the first hungry baby and still make it to work on time.

We think we will be able to manage both babies by the time Grammy leaves, but we are very thankful to have her help for so long.

On Our Own (Sort of)

2009-08-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

It has been over a month since we have posted. Most attempts end when someone spits up, needs to be fed, or needs to be changed.

Grandma Brown helped for about 3 weeks after Grammy Evans went back to Hawaii. We were on our own to deal with both babies. We had some big milestones as Grandma Brown left to make things managabe. They sleep from the 9:00 feed until about 1:00 and again until about 5:30. We used the 1:1 system so that each was responsible for their baby and how much food they got through the night.

Aunt Michelle came over to help Mom after she got home from work (around noon) until Dad got home from work.

Mom took the babies to Dr. Antall on the Friday before Grammy Evans came back from Hawaii to help out. Both babies were doing well.

Cambria was 10lbs 2 oz and Aegean was 9lbs 7oz. We think they are over 11 lbs now.

The doctor said we could discontinue using the Apnea monitor when we are ready. He suggested we start leaving it off for longer stints during the day. Aegean came home and never put the monitor on again.

Mom forgot to tell Dr. Antall that we ran out of his medications, so Aegean discontinued those as well.

The only change is that Aegean continues just under the red blood cell count limit because of being behind when he was taken off food during his NICU stay. We are giving him extra iron in his morning bottle to help him catch up.

Both are like normal infants at thsi point. They have started hitting all of the developmental stages. Our favorite was the smiling stage. We aren't just bottle holders and diaper changers anymore! You can see one of the pictures below where Aegean smiled when Daddy came home from work. He is a bit more selective at his smiling targets, but Cambria will smile at anyone. She also lets you know when she isn't happy.

I wanted to add that we got the bill from the NICU. Dr. Jadali kept telling us the cost was $10,000 /day. Cambria spend about 15 days and Aegean spend about 30 days. The bill was more like $1500. Insurance covered most of it as it was supposed to. I want to thank all of you Aetna carriers that helped fund bringing the babies back home.

Grammy Evans extended this stay to about a month and a half. We know we can manage on our own, but we also appreciate the help more than before too. Hopefully they will be sleeping through the night by the time she leaves.

Two Babies - Busy Parents (and Grandparents)

2009-07-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

I don't think we could do it without help from the Grandmas. Grammy Dianne left on June 30th, and Grandma Brown came on July 2nd. Daddy has been home most of the time with Paternity Leave and the week of July 4th a company holiday. Daddy goes back to work full time tomorrow. Grandma Brown will be here for another week. Then we are on our own...for two weeks until Grammy Dianne comes back. Juggling two has been managable with 3 adults, but it is still tough.

The babies are doing well. They had their 2 month birthday last week and weigh in at over double thier birth weights. Cambria was 8 lb 12 oz (4 lb 2 oz at birth) and Aegean weighed in at 7 lb 7 oz (2 lb 15 oz at birth). Aegean still wears his breathing/heart monitor, but we are pretty comfortable taking it off for several hours at a time. He has occasional slow heart rate when the reflux acts up, mostly during his bottle. He has had 2-3 per week at during sleep, but he self recovers. Once he stops all alarms for 1 month, we can free him from the monitor. At this point we are still happy keeping it on. You can see how Aegean has filled out.

Anybody Out There

2009-06-12T10:28:00.001-07:00

Dad has been very busy now that two kids are home. Grammy helps out. This has made some time to update everyone on the status. How about adding some comments using the link on the lower right of each post so everyone knows who's listening? This will help Dad figure out how much time he should spend.

Our First Road Trip

2009-06-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

Mommy wants a side-by-side stroller in addition to the front-back stroller we borrowed. Dad wants a side-by-side stroller that converts from stroller to jogging stroller to bike trailer. Dad convinced mommy that the family should go to REI to check it out.

The family loaded into the Highlander and headed down to Northridge. Northridge takes about 45 minutes to get to on a normal day. The babies were changed and fed before so that the trip could be completed before their next meal.

Dad drove slower and more carefully than ever. Mom told dad that a recent study found that people who text while driving lose 91% of their ability to control a vehicle. Driving with the handset is illegal in California, but texting is still acceptable. Mom and Dad concluded that everyone was texting on the way to REI. It was not rush hour yet, but the traffic was dense. The 23 Freeway has 4 lanes, densly packed, all driving 70-80 miles per hour. The only thing that slows California traffic is moisture. A light rain has the same effect as 1" flakes falling on 3" of slush and snow in other state. The roads were clear today.

A Toyota Camry cut across three lanes to make the exit about 4 cars in front of us. He must have been texting his girlfriend. A large man in a white conversion van tailgated the car in front of him. He started to change lanes into the Highlander in the second lane. Luckily he swerved back into the first lane. He must have been texting his boss.

Dad could see a small pick-up hauling 2 mattresses tied in with a single rope across the back. The pick-up was in the 3rd lane. The mattress was fluttering in the wind at 70 mph when it lifted up, teetered, and flipped over the rope. Luckily it stayed in the 3rd lane. Daddy was tempted to see the impact, but kept his eyes on the road. Daddy started to write the blog "The Brown families first close c..." when the second mattress flipped loose and into the second lane. It was about 4 car-lengths ahead when it bounces from the lower right corner back toward lane 3. Mommy screamed, Age slept, and Bree slept. Dad started to move into the 1st lane when the mattress bounced on the lower left corner back into the second lane toward the first lane. Mommy screamed louder and higher pitch as her babies lives flashed before her eyes. Age and Bree slept, and dad turned back straight down the second lane directly toward the mattress . The mattress was centered directly in front and was starting to fold lengthwise when the Highlander hit it at 70 mph, then it disappeared with the sound of a huge sock sucked up a giant industrial vacuum cleaner. The un-phased Highlander with Brown family continued up the hill at 70 mpg. Mom was histerical and Dad turned from survival mode to husband comforting mode. Dad looked left as the fat man that was texting his boss earlier gave the thumbs up.

The family plugged on anyway and somewhat successfully completed the trip. Mom was back to normal when we arrived at REI, just in time to reject the stroller/trailer for general use. Dad has to take a few weeks to justify the stroller for his own personal use.

The Family Comes Home

2009-06-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Aegean finally graduated from the NICU to join his sister and parents. We were trained to use the portable heart and breathing monitor before leaving. We learned that we will need the monitor for at least 1 month and likely up to 3 months.

We were expecting heart rate dips after experiencing several in the NICU. His apnea/bradycardia had improved significantly over the last 2 days in the NICU. We thought we were in the clear.

We haven't had a meal without a dip since he got home. We feel pretty comfortable with the alarms after all of the practice in the NICU.

We are happy to have the family together, and we are already comfortable with the monitor. Laura finally cut the bracelets (one for each child) from my wrist...

Four Generations

2009-06-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

Four generations of Evans sat on the couch today. Great grandparents Helen held Cambria for most of the visit. Less gave advice. Mitch and Laura took them to visit Aegean in the hospital. Lynn was out to visit Cambria earlier this week. Grammy is also out to visit for 3 weeks to help take care of the babies.

Tube Free and Grandpa Mitch

2009-06-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

Aegean took all of his food from the bottle on Monday and Tuesday. Dr. Mah finally approved removal of the feeding tube. He is happily free of any tubes or IVs. We took his first picture without tubes since his birthday 4 weeks ago.

Aegean continues to have occasional apnea and bradycardia. Dr. Mah will monitor him over the weekend. He recommends sending Aegean home with the heart rate, breathing rate, and oxygen saturation monitors if everything is stable. He said that we can take care of him just as well as the NICU nurses can. I hope he is right. We will plan for a tentative graduation on Tuesday next week. That is good timing because Grammy will be arriving on Tuesday too.

Grandpa Mitch visited Aegean and Cambria today. Mommy and Grandpa Mitch seemed to think Cambria's gas was histerical. Apparently the babies didn't escape this Brown Family Curse. That didn't stop Grandpa Mitch from helping change diapers. We hope he will bring Great Grandparents Helen and Less to see them this weekend!

Daddy has been looking forward to his 1 week of paternity leave as soon as Aegean comes home. He followed a tip today and found out that Amgen pays for 1 week per child within 30 days. Two times the babies = two times the diapers = 2 times the time off. Daddy gets 2 weeks off to spend with the babies - Daddy is happy!

Uncle Tucker Meets the Babies

2009-05-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

Uncle Tucker drove up from a business trip in Orange County to visit us. He is the first Brown to meet Cambria and Aegean. He also joined us for our first night out with Cambria. We went to a local Mexican restaurant. Apparently babies get a lot of attention, especially when they are as small as Cambria. We are doing well with Cambria at home. Laura and Cambria still visit Aegean for several hours a day. Laura has also been nice, letting me sleep through 2 of the 3 feedings each night. Cambria has had a lot of gas and a bloated belly. The doctor had a few recommendations, but in the meantime we will have to live with it.

Tucker and I went to the NICU after dinner to see Aegean. Laura told me Aegean had moved from an Isolette (Incubator) to a crib. We confirmed the Umbilical IV was removed. He increased from alternating feeds between bottles and gavage to 2 bottle feeds, 1 gavage. He can have the gavage tube removed when he tolerates the bottle completely. We also got the good news that his stool was now hemaglobin negative for 3 in a row. He weighed in at almost 4 lbs. Aegean continues to have apnea, which is normal for preemies and more prevalent with boys. He has the same rule Cambria had for apnea. He cannot come home until he lasts 1 week without any episodes. There is an option to bring a monitor home, but we would rather keep him under their care if they are willing.

Dr. Mah told us today that Aegean's hemaglobin was low. He was given Epogen to raise the levels. Laura used to make Epogen at Amgen earlier in her career. She remembers an old agreement that employees and their family members can get it for free. I don't think I will ask since Amgen need every bit of cash it can get. I am sure insurance covers it. Apparently most of the babies in the NICU have been taking Epo 3 days a week.

Tucker had to leave early this morning, but it was great having him out.

Cambria's First Graduation

2009-05-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Cambria had the last of her sensors removed yesterday so she could sit with her brother and finally come home. Mom and Dad are a little bit tired today. We are still trying to work out some of the finer points of burping. We will ask some questions when we go to visit Aegean in the NICU today.

Both sets of great grandparents Herb, Millie, Helen, and Less bought the carseats Laura picked out. Laura wanted the carseats that would last from 5 lbs to 60 lbs. You can see Cambria is only a few ounces under the minimum weight, but there is plenty of room to grow. Thanks to the Grandparents!

Aegean was also schedule for a big day as they planned to remove is umbilical IV. He has slowly stepped up to 100% breastmilk. We will confirm the removal happened as planned when we go to visit. This would leave him with the feeding tube as the last foreign connection. Removal of the IV also makes holding him much easier. He will also have the heart rate, O2, and breathing rate monitors still attached. They are much less intrusive.

False Alarm

2009-05-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

We ran around Monday all day to get ready for Cambria. I blocked off the afternoon to bring Cambria back. The car seat test was the only thing left before she graduates from the NICU. Cambria needed to breath normally for 2 hours while sitting in the car seat. We found out at 10:00 am that she failed the first test. She had 4 bouts of apnea. The nurses tested her a second time with a towel behind her head and she passed. Dr. Mah thought she needs another few days to get ready. We think she might get to come home this weekend.

Aegean continues in get more food. He is up to 7 mL per feeding (versus over 70 mL for Cambria). He still needs his glucose, protein, and lipid feed to gain weight. His antibiotic course ended today as he continues to improve. Today he continued to gain weight. He reached 3 lbs 6 oz.

Surprise!

2009-05-18T21:16:00.001-07:00

Sunday we visited the NICU like we have everyday. When we asked for the daily update, the nurses said Cambria was doing very well. She was taking all of her food by bottle. Both nurses were excited and said she would be ready to go home Monday or Tuesday. We were planning for a week from Monday or Tuesday. We have been running around since then to get ready. My boss loaned us a stroller, bath, and some other necessities. Laura cleaned the house and went shopping. We both took the cat to the vet for the annual check-up. I had to carry the carrier because Laura still shouldn't be lifting things.

Today Dr. Mah confirmed Cambria will be coming home. He also cleared her to have the feeding tube removed. When Laura went to see her she was tube and IV free for the first time!

Aegean also continues to improve. His x-rays continue to show no gas, so they started to feed him again. He only gets 3 mL per meal now and is still supplemented with TPN with glucose and the separate lipid feed. They will slowly increase his feeds to make sure the NEC is completely cleared up. He will continue the antibiotic treatment until the course is complete. He is gaining weight, even with the IV feeding. Laura reported his weight is 3 lb 4 oz. He will need to reach 4 lbs and also feed on his own completely. Assuming the NEC is gone, Dr. Mah thinks he will be ready to come home in 7-10 days.

Both also had an ultrasound of their brains to make sure there wasn't any damage. The nurses reported that everything looks perfect.

Tonight we are planning for our last night of good sleep for a long time. Wish us luck!

Happy 1-Week Birthday - Back to Birth Weight

2009-05-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

At the 1 week birthday, everyone is doing well. The babies are back to their birth weight (plus a little). They all lose water weight for the first few days, but we are headed in the right direction. Cambria continues to do well. She is learning to feed from the bottle, but the NICU staff are careful not to overdo it.

Aegean continues to recover from the NEC. He seems to be responding to the antibiotics, and the doctors think he will start normal feeding on Monday. Laura said he was restless while she was there until he finally got to cuddle Mommy. He calmed right down and stayed with her until we had to leave.

Mommy saw Dr. Grossman, who is back from his vacation. He says she is recoverying perfectly. He missed Laura's first visit to the hospital for cramping, second visit to the hospital for pre-term labor, and the third visit to the hospital for the delivery. It was good to hear he doesn't think there are any more hospital visits for him to miss.

Feeling Better about the Scare

2009-05-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today Dr. Mah recieved the testing and confirmed Aegean has a stage 1 case of NEC (see yesterday's post). He is still not too concerned, and daddy is feeling more comfortable. The x-ray of the colon came back and found the bubbles in the bowels had dissipated. The stool was still bloody through the night, but Aegean did not show any other symptoms. Daddy is learning that being a daddy will be stressful. He remembered that pregnancy taught him this lesson, but he still can't help to overreact.

Aegean had his bililight removed, so he gets to take off the sunglasses. He is almost nearly back to his birth weight. He is also putting on some baby fat. His ribs aren't visible anymore and his arms are filling out. He will recieve IV feeding for a few days while his NEC subsides. This might slow down his weight gain, so he might be in the NICU a little bit longer than Cambria.

Cambria continues to do well. She sleeps a lot, but seems to be a very happy baby.

Mommy continues to pump more milk. She is such a good mommy already. Both days she has spent over 6 hours with the babies. She still has some swelling and pain, but she is doing well.

Our First Little Scare

2009-05-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

Daddy got to hold Aegean for the first time since the delivery room. He is small, which makes him even cuter. His nurse found blood in his stool during his next changing. Dr. Mah brought in an x-ray machine to look at his colon. He discontinued feeding and prescribed antibiotics. The two potential concerns he had were that Aegean had necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or allergies to food. NEC is a condition that occurs premies. The tissue in the bowels begin to die. It is usually caused by bacteria. Dr. Mah said he was not too worried, but that they take everything seriously in the NICU. I was not too worried until I looked the condition up on the internet. I called in just before bed to see how he was. Apparently he did not have any other NEC symptoms. Food allergies sounded better to me, but finding the allergy would take time. If he has allergies, he will not be able to gain enough weight to come home until the allergy is resolved.

Cambria is doing very well. She is out of the isolette (incubator) and can regulate her own temperature. She had her IV removed and is getting all of her nutrients from a combination of breastmilk supplemented with premie formula. Dr. Mah thinks she will be nearly ready to come home in 2 weeks. Two weeks would be 36 weeks into pregnancy. Babies are not released before they reach the 36 week mark.

Cambria Removed from Bili light

2009-05-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today Cambria got to take her shades off. The bili light helps remove the biliruben, which causes Jaundice. They try to keep biliruben as low as possible in premies due to their more fragile liver. She seems so much more peaceful.

Aegean enjoyed his newly decorated Isolette today. Both babies were moved toward the entrance (further from the nurses).

Laura sent me an email today with the picture below and the following quote:

"The amount is really about 1 ounce, but that's good!"

Laura came home today. Daddy is relieved, but I think Mommy prefers to be at the hospital near the babies. We are trying to figure out our schedule for the next few weeks.

Removal of the Nasal Prong

2009-05-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

Today our nurse, Soon, removed Aegean's nasal prong. The removal allowed him to move from the radiation heating table to the isolette for some privacy. In addition, Laura held both Aegean and Cambria. She tried to breastfeed. Cambria latched on right away. Aegean wasn't quite ready. They are both almost up to full premie formula feeds as calculated by their weight. Once they are able to digest all of the food before the next feeding time, they can have the IVs removed. Cambria should be ready tomorrow.

Laura started producing milk today. At her evening pumping, she made 3 mL. Her milk is divided between the babies and mixed in with the formula.

Moving to the NICU

2009-05-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

Nicole (right) was the NICU nurse assigned to take care of Cambria. Jackie was assigned to take care of Aegean. They were both great, explaining everything they did. Nicole put an oxygen sensor on Cambria's foot, temperature and breathing rate sensors on her torso. She put a feeding in her nose that went down to her stomach. Cambria also got an IV in her arm like adults get.

Aegean had mild respiratory distress syndrome. The doctor thought continuous positive airway pressure would alleviate the problems. They put a nasal prong in his nose with a flow rate of 3 SLPM. His feeding tube needed to go into his mouth. The feeding tube was even more important because the nasal prong pushed some gas into his stomach.

In addition, he needed more samples for blood gas to ensure he had a high enough gas transfer rate in his lungs. Dr. Mah put an umbilical arterial catheter into his stomach to get the samples. He also put the IV in the umbilical vein for feeding. There are no nerves in the umbilical cord. This allowed Dr. Mah to put the arterial catheter and IV very close to the heart. Correct placement of the arterial catheter and IV were verified using x-ray.

Aegean continued to retract (heavy pulling by his lungs). This was probably due to less surfactant production, which is the main cause of lung problems with premies. Aegean was given Curosurf, an artificial surfactant to help his lungs develop more quickly. A tube was placed in his trachea, where Curosurf was pushed in through a syringe. Aegean sucked it up immediately. His retraction improved throughout the day.

The Operating Room

2009-05-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

It was at least 1/2 hour (15 minutes more than it was supposed to be) before they called me back for the C-Section. The 15 minute spinal block took longer than expected. Maybe Laura can fill us in later.

They finally called me back, wisked me over to the non-sterile side of the table where I could only see Laura's head. Laura requested a mirror set-up so she could see the doctors cut the layers of her stomach away. I couldn't see, but Laura asked them to put the mirror where we could both watch. This is definitely not my style. I usually get sick to my stomach giving my blood or watching surgery on TV. I could see them finally pull Cambria's head out of the hole in Laura's abdomen. Cambria cried right away. I was called over to take pictures and cut her umbilical cord (something I thought I would never to). I finally finished my duties with Cambria and went to check on Laura. I could see Aegean come out still in the membrane. When they got him out, he did not cry right away. He was also a bit smaller than Cambria. I checked on Laura, who was concerned about Aegean's and had tears in her eyes (but confirmed she was not crying while we edited this post). I went over and performed my daddy duties, which included pictures of the weighing and cutting of the cord. When I came back, Laura was happy again. Apparently hearing Aegean cry made her feel better. Their apgar scores were 8 and 9, both were breathing on their own, were responsive, and had good color. The nurses brought both babies over for a picture, then wisked me out with the babies. I left Laura behind to be sewn back up.

Day of Birth

2009-05-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

Cambria Marie Brown (4 lbs 2 oz) and Aegean Chambers Brown (2 lbs 15 oz) were born on May 8th at 8:17 and 8:20. The night Laura went into labor, I was sleeping on the couch. I had been sleeping poorly for the last few weeks because of the snoring (pregnancy induced) and bathroom breaks. Laura came into the living room at 3:30 am to tell me her water broke. We both calmly got ready very drove to the hospital.

Laura was in active labor with contractions every 3 minutes by the time the doctor arrived. Aegean was breech, so we agreed a cesearean section was the right thing to do.

Pregnancy - The Short Version

2009-05-08T05:09:00.000-07:00

May 8th was 33 weeks 4 days into pregnancy, or a little over 6 weeks premature. We were counting weeks since the 24th week when we learned that Laura was at risk for pre-term labor. She was immediately put on bedrest. Laura was hospitalized at ~28 weeks for pre-term labor. We thought the babies would join us that weekend. We met the neonatologist from the neotanal intensive care unit (NICU), Dr. Mah. He was a very comforting doctor who told us what to expect if we were to deliver a 28 week old babies. Our perinatologist, Dr. Jadali, had already told us that at 28 weeks there is a 95% chance that each baby could be born and have no long term effects. We also knew that at 32 weeks (the next major milestone), the chance of long term problems were equal to that of full term babies. We were both relieved when we made the 32 week milestone and we were looking forward to 34 weeks. We would expect the babies to have coordination to manage breathing at eating at the same time at 34 weeks. In addition, their lungs would be developed enough to breath without a respirator. The babies did not quite make this milestone.

Bedrest was extremely challenging for Laura. Grammy Evans came out to take care of her for over 1 month. Without her, the babies would not have stayed inside as long as they did. The story to come would have been a lot more painful. Grammy also prepared the nursery after Aunt Lynn painted the jungle. Many thanks to Dianne for keeping Laura well fed and helping keep the house and the baby preparation manageable during this very stressful time.

Grandma Brown also came out early during Laura's bedrest to let me to celebrate Grandpa Brown's 70th birthday heli-skiing in Canada. She was also a key to keeping the babies inside.