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.