Our poll has ended and we are ready to announce names. We appreciate everyone’s participation in the poll and we have enjoyed almost all of the advice and input you guys have offered us. As you may recall, we started the Name Game on a mission to find strong, masculine and enduring names for our boys. We also wanted names that could be easily shortened into something fun.
What we haven’t shared before are our thoughts on middle names. We have decided to use family names that have special meaning to us. This has proven to be a difficult task that has taken a considerable amount of thought as there are so many people in our family who possess qualities that we will strive to instill in our boys - kindness, strength, and integrity, just to name a few. We are hopeful our boys will be sweet and gentle, yet independent and strong. We want them to be leaders and patriarchs who are blessed with the desire and ability to help others and put their family first. Of course, now that I’ve written this, they will surely be tyrants!
Without further delay, we introduce you to our boys:
Baby A – Jackson Robert (Jack)
Jackson is the rock and pillar who has propped up and protected his brothers and mother. If ever he would have given in to the pressure, the whole house of cards could have fallen. For his efforts he has been kicked, elbowed, sat on, and slept on. We thus picture him as being strong and tolerant. He will likely be the first born…the older brother…the one the others will look to and lean on. His name sake, Robert, is Mikki’s grandfather whose life and memory personifies these qualities that we already see in Jackson.
Baby B – Maxwell Francis (Max)
Maxwell is strong-willed and independent. He will surely cause a little trouble, but he will also stand up for what is right and protect the ones he loves. He may get knocked down, but he will never stay down. He will be a fighter. Maxwell’s namesake is Frances, my grandmother. She personified strength, love and determination. She had an unbelievable love for her family, and she always put us first. Every game, every awards presentation, every time we needed her…she was there. She was also a fighter whose battle with cancer was, and will always be, inspiring.
Baby C – Harrison Kent (maybe we'll just call him Harry when he has been bad)
Harrison is kind, gentle and sweet. Closest to Mikki's heart, he is a big teddy bear type, perhaps even a momma’s boy. He will always be there for his brothers. He will be quick to lend a hand and take care of others in need. He will be loving and caring, and appreciative of the fact that he was born with his two best friends. Harrison’s namesake is my father, Kent. Not to say that my father is a momma’s boy; but, he has a gentle soul that I hope is passed to at least one of my boys.
With great optimism, we will soon welcome Jackson, Maxwell, and Harrison into our world. We are certainly not naïve enough to think our boys will be perfect; but, as their parents, we get to hope and dream. It's all part of the fun of parenthood.
Now all we have to do is keep them straight once they are born!! “Is that Jackson?…no that’s Maxwell…Jackson is over there….I think…. Or is that Harrison!?.” This is going to be fun….right?!
Hunter and Mikki
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Week 26
It's been a fairly uneventful week, at least in regards to the boys...which, I guess, is a good thing at this stage. Mikki hit 26 weeks last Thursday and is already creeping up on week #27. The boys have been very active, which means Mikki has been increasingly uncomfortable. It's hard to imagine that she can physically grow much larger. In honor of her amazing feat, we offer the 26th week photo:
Why, you ask, is she holding a tape measure? Fair question. The tape measure is set at 43 1/2 inches, which illustrates the approximate combined length of the boys. How all that baby is stuffed into that stomach is anyone's guess. I can't imagine how it must fill to carry around that load 24 hours a day. I feel uncomfortable after a single large meal.
Well, it's about to get very busy for the Bertrand 8. Claire starts her new year of dance on Monday and the kids start school shortly thereafter. Coby is having his 8th grade orientation today and the girls have their orientations next week. All the while, their momma (and chauffeur) is nearing all out bed rest. What is the plan you ask? Another good question. We are largely flying by the seat of our pants right now. It's difficult to plan for the unknown, i.e. when will Mikki be unable to drive, when will she go on full bed rest, when will she go into the hospital, when will these boys decide to make their entrance into the world, how long will the boys stay in the NICU before coming home? We can only plan so far in advance. For now, it's good knowing that we have great family and friend support on standby to help as needed.
We go back to Dr. LaFranca and MFM on Monday. We will of course pass on any news and new pics after our visit. Also, as a teaser, we are nearing the end of our Name Game, which means we will be announcing the boys names soon. Stay tuned!
Hunter and Mikki.
Why, you ask, is she holding a tape measure? Fair question. The tape measure is set at 43 1/2 inches, which illustrates the approximate combined length of the boys. How all that baby is stuffed into that stomach is anyone's guess. I can't imagine how it must fill to carry around that load 24 hours a day. I feel uncomfortable after a single large meal.
Well, it's about to get very busy for the Bertrand 8. Claire starts her new year of dance on Monday and the kids start school shortly thereafter. Coby is having his 8th grade orientation today and the girls have their orientations next week. All the while, their momma (and chauffeur) is nearing all out bed rest. What is the plan you ask? Another good question. We are largely flying by the seat of our pants right now. It's difficult to plan for the unknown, i.e. when will Mikki be unable to drive, when will she go on full bed rest, when will she go into the hospital, when will these boys decide to make their entrance into the world, how long will the boys stay in the NICU before coming home? We can only plan so far in advance. For now, it's good knowing that we have great family and friend support on standby to help as needed.
We go back to Dr. LaFranca and MFM on Monday. We will of course pass on any news and new pics after our visit. Also, as a teaser, we are nearing the end of our Name Game, which means we will be announcing the boys names soon. Stay tuned!
Hunter and Mikki.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Week 25 Update
The Boys at 25 weeks:
We visited with MFM on Friday and the boys looked great. Their weight gain continues to amaze as they’re all right at 2 lbs, which is on the high end of the scale even for a singleton. They were all very active, especially our trouble maker Baby B (that’s got to be Maxwell – Max). A and B were literally performing somersaults and even our laid back guy, Baby C, was much more active. (Mikki swears that she didn’t sneak any coffee prior to the visit!) It is truly amazing to see and feel all of them moving at once. I’m not sure how Mikki takes it, though I guess that she has little choice.
After the visit, we took a tour of the NICU and special needs nursery at Woman’s. It’s impossible to fully appreciate just how small a 2 lb. baby is unless you see one in person. Quite honestly, the thought of caring for such a little person is very scary. We know this though, the facility and people at Woman’s are terrific. To the extent our boys have to spend time in the NICU, we know that they will have the very best care.
If anything, the visit to the NICU provided Mikki with the motivation needed to carry these babies a little longer. Every day the boys stay in her belly is a day (or a few days) (or a week) less in the NICU. Please keep Mikki in your thoughts and prayers. It gets a little tougher on her each passing day, both physically and emotionally.
25 weeks down, and another 7 -10 weeks to go!
Finally, in case someone is interested, or you know someone who may be interested, we are selling our boat. $7,000 or a year's worth of diapers (times 3). Here is the link. http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/boa/2499341474.html
Hunter and Mikki.
We visited with MFM on Friday and the boys looked great. Their weight gain continues to amaze as they’re all right at 2 lbs, which is on the high end of the scale even for a singleton. They were all very active, especially our trouble maker Baby B (that’s got to be Maxwell – Max). A and B were literally performing somersaults and even our laid back guy, Baby C, was much more active. (Mikki swears that she didn’t sneak any coffee prior to the visit!) It is truly amazing to see and feel all of them moving at once. I’m not sure how Mikki takes it, though I guess that she has little choice.
After the visit, we took a tour of the NICU and special needs nursery at Woman’s. It’s impossible to fully appreciate just how small a 2 lb. baby is unless you see one in person. Quite honestly, the thought of caring for such a little person is very scary. We know this though, the facility and people at Woman’s are terrific. To the extent our boys have to spend time in the NICU, we know that they will have the very best care.
If anything, the visit to the NICU provided Mikki with the motivation needed to carry these babies a little longer. Every day the boys stay in her belly is a day (or a few days) (or a week) less in the NICU. Please keep Mikki in your thoughts and prayers. It gets a little tougher on her each passing day, both physically and emotionally.
25 weeks down, and another 7 -10 weeks to go!
Finally, in case someone is interested, or you know someone who may be interested, we are selling our boat. $7,000 or a year's worth of diapers (times 3). Here is the link. http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/boa/2499341474.html
Hunter and Mikki.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Happy Birthday Supermom (Week 24)
Happy Birthdays all around (the baby picture edition)! As noted in our last post, July 4th was Coby’s birthday and we posted one of the few recent pictures that we have of our little man – ok, in no way is he little any more, armpit hair, deepening voice, wanna be mustache, girlfriend…I’m not sure if I’m proud or just a little grossed out.
Anyway, we found a couple of our favorite baby pics and decided that we would share:
Now that is just cute.
And, while it will embarrass him for years, here is the long lost video of Coby’s Justin Beiber song….enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3p77DdbMdo
My favorite pic of Coby and Claire:
While I’m at it, my favorite dance pic of the girls:
Today is Supermom’s birthday, and following on our baby picture theme, how about this pic:
That may be the single cutest baby pic of all time. The story is that little Mikki was pointing to a recent boo-boo on her toe. Regardless, it’s super cute.
Happy Birthday Mikki! Your strength and grace in carrying our boys is nothing short of awe-inspiring. You often times make it look so easy, and I know it’s not. I love you.
To share a little about our story, Mikki and I were kinda destined for this (not the triplet + plus three part, but the living happy ever after part). See, we were born two months apart in the same small town at the hands of the same doctor. Even before our birth, Mikki’s parents lived in my great grandmother’s apartment behind her house; the same apartment I lived in later with my mom. Mikki’s mom recalls visiting my great grandmother and seeing the same family heirloom piano that now sits in our foyer. We rode the same bus to kindergarten, driven by the same one-armed bus driver (seriously, he had one arm and the bus was a stick shift…you don’t forget something like that). If this isn’t sounding a little Forest Gumpish already… Mikki had an eye issue as a kid that required her to wear an eye patch throughout kindergarten. There’s a lot I can’t recall about kindergarten, but I remember the one-eyed girl who decorated her eye patch with stickers. I moved away in 1st grade, but was back in 10th grade. Immediately, Mikki was my first crush. She was in my 10th grade English class, Mrs. Burk, and we were dating by our Junior year. We have definitely had our ups and downs since then, but we have been way up for quite some time with no downhill stretch in sight. Again, Happy Birthday to my wife.
Claire actually brought out our high school yearbooks this past week. In honor of our awesome picture themed post, how about these beauties:
Yes, that is Mikki in my letter jacket singing the alma mater at a basketball game. She is without a doubt embarrassed of that short hair now. I liked it though.
How about a few more (because she was so cute):
Also, because we have promised them a few times, and it’s a tribute to Mikki’s artistic abilities, here are a few shots of the girls’ room and bathroom (recall that the girls have been forced to share a room with the boys on the way and Mikki was left with the challenge of painting their room with ALL of their favorite colors).
And, finally, because turn about is fair play:
Anyway, this has been all about us, rather than our future trio…so, thank you for bearing with me. As for our boys, Week 24 has flown by fairly unremarkably. Mikki has done a good job of resting and keeping her feet up. Our current trio have shown some understanding and have kept their demands to a minimum. The boys are getting stronger by the day. It is incredibly strange to feel and see all of them moving at one time. And, by the look on Mikki’s face, it's even stranger to feel them from the inside. So, we (mostly Mikki) trudge forward…into the 25th week. We see MFM again next week. Maybe we can talk the Dr. into some 4d pictures that we can share.
Hunter and Mikki.
Anyway, we found a couple of our favorite baby pics and decided that we would share:
Now that is just cute.
And, while it will embarrass him for years, here is the long lost video of Coby’s Justin Beiber song….enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3p77DdbMdo
My favorite pic of Coby and Claire:
While I’m at it, my favorite dance pic of the girls:
Today is Supermom’s birthday, and following on our baby picture theme, how about this pic:
That may be the single cutest baby pic of all time. The story is that little Mikki was pointing to a recent boo-boo on her toe. Regardless, it’s super cute.
Happy Birthday Mikki! Your strength and grace in carrying our boys is nothing short of awe-inspiring. You often times make it look so easy, and I know it’s not. I love you.
To share a little about our story, Mikki and I were kinda destined for this (not the triplet + plus three part, but the living happy ever after part). See, we were born two months apart in the same small town at the hands of the same doctor. Even before our birth, Mikki’s parents lived in my great grandmother’s apartment behind her house; the same apartment I lived in later with my mom. Mikki’s mom recalls visiting my great grandmother and seeing the same family heirloom piano that now sits in our foyer. We rode the same bus to kindergarten, driven by the same one-armed bus driver (seriously, he had one arm and the bus was a stick shift…you don’t forget something like that). If this isn’t sounding a little Forest Gumpish already… Mikki had an eye issue as a kid that required her to wear an eye patch throughout kindergarten. There’s a lot I can’t recall about kindergarten, but I remember the one-eyed girl who decorated her eye patch with stickers. I moved away in 1st grade, but was back in 10th grade. Immediately, Mikki was my first crush. She was in my 10th grade English class, Mrs. Burk, and we were dating by our Junior year. We have definitely had our ups and downs since then, but we have been way up for quite some time with no downhill stretch in sight. Again, Happy Birthday to my wife.
Claire actually brought out our high school yearbooks this past week. In honor of our awesome picture themed post, how about these beauties:
Yes, that is Mikki in my letter jacket singing the alma mater at a basketball game. She is without a doubt embarrassed of that short hair now. I liked it though.
How about a few more (because she was so cute):
Also, because we have promised them a few times, and it’s a tribute to Mikki’s artistic abilities, here are a few shots of the girls’ room and bathroom (recall that the girls have been forced to share a room with the boys on the way and Mikki was left with the challenge of painting their room with ALL of their favorite colors).
And, finally, because turn about is fair play:
Anyway, this has been all about us, rather than our future trio…so, thank you for bearing with me. As for our boys, Week 24 has flown by fairly unremarkably. Mikki has done a good job of resting and keeping her feet up. Our current trio have shown some understanding and have kept their demands to a minimum. The boys are getting stronger by the day. It is incredibly strange to feel and see all of them moving at one time. And, by the look on Mikki’s face, it's even stranger to feel them from the inside. So, we (mostly Mikki) trudge forward…into the 25th week. We see MFM again next week. Maybe we can talk the Dr. into some 4d pictures that we can share.
Hunter and Mikki.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Happy 4th of July (Week 23)
Happy Fourth of July all! And Happy Birthday to our first born, Coby Ryan Bertrand. Coby turns 14 today, and we love him despite his teenage tendencies. It wasn’t all that long ago that he was super sweet, cute, funny and talented. Now, I’m not sure what he is :), though if you asked him, he would tell you that he’s incredibly handsome, downright hilarious and way too talented for guitar and/or voice lessons. I’ll reserve judgment for now while hoping for an early end to the “teenage years”! Happy Birthday Coby.
We have had an eventful week. Claire and her Baton Rouge Dance Connection pals attended a national convention in New Orleans. Claire had a GREAT time with her freinds and dance teacher, Mrs. Jen. As for the rest of us, it was a perfect excuse to enjoy a few days off and hang with friends and family.
Me and my Momma (Mom – you have a 14 year old grandson!! Ha!)
From left, Claire, Camille, Mrs. Jen, and Mary Scott.
Do ya think they had a little fun!
The dynamic duo.
And Caroline enjoying New Orleans while waiting on her sister to finish up for the day. Caro was such a trooper.
Last Friday was Mikki’s 23 week appointment with her Doctor and then MFM. It was another A+ appointment concluded with a warning of sorts. First the Ying (as termed by the MFM Doctor): Mikki and the babies look very good for this stage of the pregnancy. Mikki has gained considerable weight for the health of her babies and the effects are easy to quantify - the boys are GROWING. They all gained ½ pound in just two weeks. Baby B and Baby C are both a solid 1 pound 7 ounces, and Baby A is close behind at 1 pound 5 ounces. All are above average in weight for their gestational age. Their anatomy looks good, and there are no indications of any problems. Mikki’s cervix is hanging in there as well, and there are no signs of premature labor.
Now the Yang (again as termed by the MFM Doctor): the next four weeks are extremely critical. Mikki hits 24 weeks this Thursday, which is the week of viability. If something happens to go wrong, the babies can be born alive. However, the chances of significant problems go WAY down at 28 weeks. Thus, the doctor told Mikki that she should be as conservative as possible, and stay off of her feet as much as possible. While not ordering strict bed rest, he did strongly suggest some form of it. Once she hits 28 weeks, and if everything still looks good, she can actually return to some significant level of activity and allow the babies to come in their own due course. So, keep Mikki and these babies in your prayers. It could be a long July, but I know Mikki can (and will) do it.
For your viewing pleasure, we have added a slide show of the babies at 23 weeks. As they grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to get good shots of Babies A and B. However, Baby C still has a lot of room to move and provide us with great profile shots.
Also, we have added some 23 week photos of Mikki to the belly slideshow. After much convincing from myself and curious friends, Mikki finally got up the nerve to do some bare belly shots. For dramatic effect, here is a picture of Mikki at 7 weeks pregnant:
And now, 23 weeks pregnant:
On Saturday, I took Coby and a few of his friends (and fellow dads) to the lake for some boating fun, 9 hours of it to be exact. Amazingly, the boat did not breakdown, no one was hurt on the tube and everybody left with a smile on their face. We then came back to the house for a little barbeque and birthday cake.
Finally, on Sunday, we met up with a family from New Orleans that has identical triplets, Linus, Miles and Oliver (really cool names by the way). We really enjoyed seeing the boys in action; they are sooo cute (you can see more of them at pyjammy.com). We also appreciated the opportunity to talk to someone who has been through (and is going through) what will soon be our new reality. The girls left asking “when are our boys going to get here”…in due time girls. Here are a couple shots of all of the kids together:
Again, Happy Fourth of July to you and yours. You can picture the Bertrand 8 enjoying a nice, peaceful 4th at home today, with only the occasional “I’m bored”.
Hunter and Mikki.
We have had an eventful week. Claire and her Baton Rouge Dance Connection pals attended a national convention in New Orleans. Claire had a GREAT time with her freinds and dance teacher, Mrs. Jen. As for the rest of us, it was a perfect excuse to enjoy a few days off and hang with friends and family.
Me and my Momma (Mom – you have a 14 year old grandson!! Ha!)
From left, Claire, Camille, Mrs. Jen, and Mary Scott.
Do ya think they had a little fun!
The dynamic duo.
And Caroline enjoying New Orleans while waiting on her sister to finish up for the day. Caro was such a trooper.
Last Friday was Mikki’s 23 week appointment with her Doctor and then MFM. It was another A+ appointment concluded with a warning of sorts. First the Ying (as termed by the MFM Doctor): Mikki and the babies look very good for this stage of the pregnancy. Mikki has gained considerable weight for the health of her babies and the effects are easy to quantify - the boys are GROWING. They all gained ½ pound in just two weeks. Baby B and Baby C are both a solid 1 pound 7 ounces, and Baby A is close behind at 1 pound 5 ounces. All are above average in weight for their gestational age. Their anatomy looks good, and there are no indications of any problems. Mikki’s cervix is hanging in there as well, and there are no signs of premature labor.
Now the Yang (again as termed by the MFM Doctor): the next four weeks are extremely critical. Mikki hits 24 weeks this Thursday, which is the week of viability. If something happens to go wrong, the babies can be born alive. However, the chances of significant problems go WAY down at 28 weeks. Thus, the doctor told Mikki that she should be as conservative as possible, and stay off of her feet as much as possible. While not ordering strict bed rest, he did strongly suggest some form of it. Once she hits 28 weeks, and if everything still looks good, she can actually return to some significant level of activity and allow the babies to come in their own due course. So, keep Mikki and these babies in your prayers. It could be a long July, but I know Mikki can (and will) do it.
For your viewing pleasure, we have added a slide show of the babies at 23 weeks. As they grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to get good shots of Babies A and B. However, Baby C still has a lot of room to move and provide us with great profile shots.
Also, we have added some 23 week photos of Mikki to the belly slideshow. After much convincing from myself and curious friends, Mikki finally got up the nerve to do some bare belly shots. For dramatic effect, here is a picture of Mikki at 7 weeks pregnant:
And now, 23 weeks pregnant:
On Saturday, I took Coby and a few of his friends (and fellow dads) to the lake for some boating fun, 9 hours of it to be exact. Amazingly, the boat did not breakdown, no one was hurt on the tube and everybody left with a smile on their face. We then came back to the house for a little barbeque and birthday cake.
Finally, on Sunday, we met up with a family from New Orleans that has identical triplets, Linus, Miles and Oliver (really cool names by the way). We really enjoyed seeing the boys in action; they are sooo cute (you can see more of them at pyjammy.com). We also appreciated the opportunity to talk to someone who has been through (and is going through) what will soon be our new reality. The girls left asking “when are our boys going to get here”…in due time girls. Here are a couple shots of all of the kids together:
Again, Happy Fourth of July to you and yours. You can picture the Bertrand 8 enjoying a nice, peaceful 4th at home today, with only the occasional “I’m bored”.
Hunter and Mikki.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)