Dear Family and Friends,
This holiday season, we want to take a moment and thank everyone for the amazing amount of support we have received this year.

This year has been a difficult one for our family with the loss of our beloved twins, Abigail and Noah, in January. Three months later we lost Beth's Grandpa Rollie and in September, Eric's Dad, Emil.

Without you, this past year would have been completely impossible. We are asking for your support once more as we try to cope with the loss of our children over what should have been their first Christmas.

At Noah's and Abigail's funeral, we said we knew that there lives made a difference and that we would work hard to be better people and to make a difference in their memory. This Christmas, we are asking our family and friends for help to make a difference in their memory. If you would like to help us honor Abigail and Noah this Christmas, what we are asking is that you perform a random act of kindness in memory of Abigail and Noah sometime before Christmas. This could be anything from carrying an elderly person's groceries to leaving an extra large tip for the waitress to giving a stranger a compliment when it looks like they may be having a hard day. The options are limitless. We are then hoping you will e-mail or pay a tribute on their memorial Web sites entailing the act of kindness that was performed. We will write down all these acts of kindness and place them in Abigail's and Noah's Christmas stockings to be opened on Christmas morning. 

Some might say this year isn't a very "Merry" one. It has certainly been filled with sadness, but it has also been filled with amazing blessings. We were so blessed to have Abigail and Noah - if even for such a short time. We were also blessed to have Beth's Grandpa and Eric's Dad for so many years of wonderful memories.

This Christmas - we are thanking God and celebrating the blessings of our year.  We wish you all a very peaceful and Merry Christmas!

With All Of Our Love,
Eric & Beth Brandt
Noah, Abigail, Faith, Hope, and Grace

MARCH OF DIMES WALK - MAY 5, 2007
Noah and Abigail were the Ambassador children for Faribault's 2007 March of Dimes Walk. Their cousin, Justin, was also an ambassador for the walk.
The story of our twins was featured in the Faribault Daily News. Our team Abby's and Noah's Team raised about $1000 to help prevent premature birth from happening to other families.


The Story of Noah and Abigail:

My husband and I had been trying to have a baby for the past six years. During those years, we struggled through three miscarriages and infertility treatments. Finally, in August of 2006 we became pregnant. Five days later, I began to bleed. Panicking, I went in for my first ultrasound. At the ultrasound I learned I had a hemorrhage that would require weeks of bed rest, but I also learned I was carrying twins and that they both had a strong heartbeat.
Nine weeks later, I was able to return to work and my pregnancy continued to progress. I felt the first movements and I learned I would be having a little boy and a little girl. I began to shop for baby clothes and bought furniture for the nursery. At 24 weeks, I went in for a level II ultrasound and everything looked great. Two days later, everything changed.
I went to work that day and felt tired and a bit uncomfortable, but I was carrying twins. Tiredness and pressure were not uncommon. That night, I got home from work and realized that I was having pains. They felt like gas pains, but they were coming every few minutes. I had just begun a class on “Expecting Multiples” and had learned to feel my stomach for contractions. I did not feel anything. I called the doctor to be certain, and he said I could go to St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood for a check, but it was probably nothing. I really believed I was just having an overactive imagination.
I arrived at St. John’s and they hooked me to a fetal monitor that would indicate if I was having contractions. The nurse confirmed that I was indeed having contractions and in fact they were coming every three minutes. She then did an internal exam and called for help. I asked her what was wrong. In fact, I asked several times before she told me that I was four centimeters dilated with a bulging bag of water.
I have never been so terrified in my life. I was told I would be sent immediately by ambulance to United Hospital in St. Paul, where they had the best NICU in the state. I was told they were giving me steroids to stop my labor. I was also given shots to mature my babies’ lungs.
I arrived at United Hospital and they were able to stop my labor. I was told this does happen to some women and that the goal was to buy me as much time as possible. At 24 weeks my babies had a decent chance of survival, but it would be difficult. I laid on bed rest at United for 6 days. I was unable to sit up to eat or even to go to the bathroom. I had to lay on my left side. My entire body ached from laying so still the entire day.
At 25 weeks, 1 day, I had another exam only to learn that I was leaking amniotic fluid from Twin A (Noah). The doctor still thought we could buy a few days as I wasn’t having contractions. Later that evening on January 24, I suddenly began having pains again. Within a half an hour I quickly went from 4 to 10 centimeters dilated. I was screaming at the nurse to take me to Labor and Delivery and my water was breaking as they wheeled me down the hallway. I was wheeled into the operating room and put under general anesthesia for a Caesarean section. At 7:58 I became a mother when Noah Roland Emil was born. Two minutes later Abigail Elizabeth was born.
When I awoke I found my husband Eric standing over me - eager to tell me about our twins. They were doing exceptionally well. The doctors were very happy and the prognosis for both twins was very good. Abigail weighed 1 pound 11.5 ounces and Noah weighed 1 pound 12.5 ounces.
About 31 hours later, just after midnight on the 26th of January, my husband went to check in with the twins. They had been fine at 10 p.m., but when he arrived this time their stats weren’t as good. He soon called me because Noah was getting worse and it wasn’t looking good. I immediately got out of bed and began walking to the NICU. By the time, I arrived both Noah and Abigail were not doing well. Abigail soon began to respond to treatment, but we were told Noah was dying. I couldn’t believe what was happening. From excellent to dying - how could this be. I asked that they take him off the ventilator and place him in my arms. If he was going to die, I wanted him to be at peace in his Mother’s arms. One minute after Noah died, Abigail’s stats plummeted. Again, I was told my child was going to die. Abigail was then placed in my arms and I held her as she drew her last breaths. She died within one hour of Noah.
My children meant the world to me - and I had them for just two days. My hopes and dreams for their lives will go unfilled. I come home every night to an empty nursery. Although, I would do it all over to again have those two days with my children, the trauma of losing my twins is something I will never forget.
The death certificate reads Respiratory Distress Syndrome due to Extreme Pre-maturity. I also believe that Abigail just couldn’t live without her brother. Several doctors at the hospital believe the same as the situation seemed so unbelievable.
Having my sweet babies was the best thing that has every happened in my life, but losing my children was the most horrific. I am supporting the March of Dimes because I do not want anyone else to ever experience the trauma of losing a child to pre-maturity. I promised my children on the day we buried them that I would spend my life doing things to cherish their memory and to make a difference in their name. If my story and my support of the March of Dimes can make a difference in the lives of one woman, it is well worth all the time and effort I have placed into this mission. I deserved my 40 weeks of pregnancy - and Abigail and Noah deserved a chance to live their lives.


May 5, 2007 

Hi Darling Babies,
Today, Daddy and I did the March of Dimes walk in your honor. You were both Ambassadors for this year's walk along with your cousin Justin. I told the radio station and the newspaper and all the walkers how much you both meant to me and how I never want pre-maturity to cause the death of another child. I placed your baby shoes at your gravesite. I so wish you were here to wear them. I love and miss you both so much. 

Love, 
Mommy