Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Happy 1/2 Year Birthday Kennedy & Dylan!!!

Wow! Can you believe the boys are 6 months old!!! Really...it has gone by so fast! They have gone from 4lbs 14oz and 5lb preemies to nice 16lb big healthy boys! We feel blessed each and every single day that our boys are happy and healthy and perfect!

We decided to start the boys on solids a little after they turned 5 months old. The first thing they tried was oat cereal. They both took to it pretty good. Dylan actually grabbed at the spoon! Kennedy was a little concerned at first but after a while he warmed up to it!

A week after that we tried bananas. The boys LOVED them sooooo much! Their tummies however did not. I will spare you the details but lets just say it did opposite things to each of them. So, no more bananas. The next thing we tried were sweet potatoes. They both liked them pretty good and they totally agreed with there bellies! Yay!!! After sweet potatoes, we decided to give avocado a try. It was the funniest thing to see Dylan trying to eat it!!! He was gaging on it after each bite lol! Kennedy liked it a bit more. Both there tummies did not like it so we will not be giving it to them for a while. Here is a funny video of them trying it!



The next food we tried with them was carrots. Carrots made Dylan cry. Poor baby.  Kennedy liked carrots a lot!! Dylan's tummy did not agree with the carrots so we stopped them. After trying all the different foods we have, we have come to the conclusion that Dylan's tummy is not ready for veggies yet. We have decided to stick with cereal only for a month or so more then we will try to introduce veggies again. 



After I posted the 4 month blog, I decided it was time to move the boys into their rooms to sleep. It actually went pretty good. They sleep in their cribs every night now! I totally and completely miss sleeping with them, but we usually nap together once during the day so that makes up for it! We are starting to move their bed time earlier and earlier. Right now, they have there last bottle at 8:30pm. Then they have their cereal and bathes. We lotion  them up, put them in there pj's and they go to bed around 10:30pm. Some nights it is a little later..it just depends how the day goes. So far, it is going well. they each get up a couple of times during the night to look for there suckies. I can not wait until they can put them back in their own mouthes! It is so funny though....they take them out and stare at the suckies in their hands, then they throw them down and complain that they don't have the, anymore!!

They continue to love their bouncy chairs! The love chewing on anything they can get into their mouthes. I can not wait until we finally see some little teeth! They are having such a horrible time with teething. It will be nice once it finally pays off. We still practice sitting and standing with the boys. Dylan loves to sit!  He is always straining to sit up when he is laying down! So much that he actually makes himself throw up because he is trying so hard! Right now he can go about 15  seconds sitting by himself before he falls over. Kennedy loves to stand! It is hard to get him to bend his legs to sit! He is always trying to stand up which makes feeding time difficult! It is so funny how both boys are so different at some things! The boys still hate tummy time but they are getting better. Each one has rolled over from tummy to back once. Here is a video of tummy time!




We are very sad that we are not going home for Christmas. It breaks our hearts. It is just not in the budget this year. We are going to take as ton of pics and videos so everyone can see the boys on there first Christmas!

We miss you all!

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

4 Months! They are growing up so quickly!!


It is so hard to believe the boys are 4 months already. It is even harder to believe that I have been in Alberta for a year now! How crazy is that??? In one year we have 2 happy healthy baby boys! Things are going pretty good with the boys! Here are some updates...

SLEEPING ~ They are still sleeping from about midnight through to 8:00am. Some nights they wake up a few times and I need to put their suckies back in but I am ok with that. They still sleep in our bed...Although they are getting so big, I'm not sure how long we will be able to keep them in it. But...I'm not gonna lie...I love sleeping with them. It is very peaceful to watch a baby (or babies!) sleep. When they do move into their cribs, it is going to be very hard for me...It is nice to wake up to them right there....Just to know they are sleeping peacefully and they are happy and cozy and safe!

EATING ~ I am still breastfeeding them with the nursing pillow. They also get 2 formula bottles a day....So out of 7 feeds, I bottle feed them only two times. Oh...and they don't like to eat for anyone but me. Dallas tries and also Elizabeth but they do not succeed. The boys will eat with them for a minute or so then they will just stop! Kinda frustrating for me! But, what can you do...They are with only me for 20 hours a day ( I am including sleeping lol) so I guess to them "mommy" means "food"! They have also started to play together when I try to nurse them. I frequently have to tell them to stop playing while they eat! They are so cute though...They will hold hands, talk to each other, or just stare at each other.

DAILY SCHEDULE ~ My main goal this past month has been to keep them on the same schedule. It is a constant battle. If they do not nap at the same times, then they will get hungry at different times and it throws everything off. Most days are good but some days Dylan (not pointing finger or anything) does not want to nap while Kennedy naps. Those are the days that are hard. My days are pretty much the same day after day. Wake them up at 8...nurse them...play for a few minutes...put them back to bed...wake an hour or two later...nurse them...play time...put them back to bed...wake 30 minutes or so later...feed them bottles...play time ...try to get them back to sleep if they are cranky...wake them...nurse them whenever they are hungry next (they only go 2 hours at the most now in between feeds)...play time...try to get them down for a nap...daddy comes home...feed them bottles...play time...mini-nap if they are cranky...nurse them before bed...In bed anywhere in between 11:30 to 1:00am...usually by midnight. Wow...now that I read this, it seems they sleep a lot....But in reality it is a lot of mini-naps...except for their first one of the day.

PLAY TIME ~ We do a number of different activities with the boys. They become bored with one activity after about 20 minutes. At one point during the day we have "Brother Time". I lay the boys on their sides looking at each other. They talk to each other or grab each others hands. Sometimes, one baby will be talking away looking at his brother and the other one will be staring at the wall or the ceiling fan! We also practice sitting up and standing up. They are so strong with their little legs already! They are also good at sitting. They hold their heads up perfect. Another thing the boys now like is their bouncy chairs. This is a new development that just started this week. They try to grab at the toys and laugh while they do it! We also put on their Baby Einstein DVD's for them to watch...This only lasts 15 minutes or so before they get bored.

DIAPERS ~ We have cut our diaper load in half as well...Now instead of a total of 24 diapers a day, we are down to about 12...Thank goodness! 140 diapers a week is a lot of diapers! We are still using Pampers Swaddlers....This is a HUGE treat for me that Dallas surprises me with...I LOVE these diapers....They smell like baby powder and they are soooooo soft! Of course they are expensive..that is why it is such a treat for me! I never would have thought I would get so excited about diapers lol! But these ones are fabulous!!

TEETHING ~ Yes thats right... they have started teething...Not fun...Some days are worse than others. Thank goodness it is not every day. They chew on their hands and they don't eat as well...you can tell that it hurts them so much. Poor babies! We give them Oragel, Tylenol and teething tabs for the pain...Not all at once of course! They also love to chew on their Sophie the Giraffe's...these teething toys were well worth the $44 they cost! They are very similar to a dogs chew toy....they squeek and everything! But they are made of this special plastic...Here is the write up from the website and a pic of the boys with Sophie!

"Born in 1961, her success is legendary in France. Made in the French Alps with natural rubber and non-toxic paint, Sophie has been safely cuddled and chewed for over 40 years! She is soft, light, and easy to grasp and fits perfectly into little hands. Sophie is loveable and amusing. She even makes a happy sound when squeezed. Babies especially love her bumpy head to soothe their teething gums."
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So I guess that is it for now..We will write again soon!


Corinne


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Sunday, September 27, 2009

The boys are 3 months old!

Well....a lot has happened since I wrote last. The boys are 3 months old now! They won the battle with the suckies and with them sleeping in our bed. They nap in their cribs but in order for me to get a solid 6 or 7 hours at night, they stay in our bed. They sleep really close together with their arms wrapped around their blankets. It is so cute! They start to get tired after the 10:00 feed...we get them all settled with their blankets and suckies and they drift off to sleep. They typically sleep unitl 7 or 8ish. I can not believe how easy it is to get them to sleep now...It used to be a constant battle but now they are doing great!

We have a lot of nice happy moments with them now as well. They smile all the time...it is truly rewarding. I have been tandem breastfeeding them with a new twin nursing pillow we purchased and that is going well too. We had them on formula while we were battling Thrush and because of that my milk supply went down, but it is slowly getting back up there and soon we will not have to supplement at all.

They got their first needles a few weeks ago as well. It went pretty good. Of course they freaked out while they were getting them....their poor little legs! While we were there they also got weighed... Kennedy weighed 11lbs 4oz and Dylan was at 11lbs 5oz. Also, Dylan is 1 inch shorted than Kennedy..Other than that everything else was about the same.

We will post again soon!

K & D 3 month professional pics!

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Sunday, September 6, 2009

11 weeks old!

Well, the boys are growing fast and they are hitting some major milestones. They are both getting good at their hand-eye coordination. While on their playmat or when we are holding a toy in front of them, they hit it with their hands! Kennedy was hitting one of the toys on his playmat yesterday...he also turned his head while laying down in the playpen when I turned on their sun that lights up....this seems like a little thing but it is actually huge that they are becoming more aware of their surroundings.

We have also started a bedtime routine. We are on day 3 today and they are slowly coming around. Since they have been home we have slept them in bed with us because quite frankly, I am so exhausted at the end of the day the last think I wanted to do was to get up out of bed to feed them in their room every 2 hours...especially when it took about 1 hour to feed them....if you do the math, that is not a lot of down time in between. Now that they go 3 or 4 hours in between feeds, we felt it was time to move them into their cribs. There was a few problems with this. First off, they were not used to their cribs or their rooms at all. They did not spend any time in there and they really didn't want anything to do with sleeping away from their mommy and daddy. We knew it was time to change this or we would be sleeping with 2 toddlers before long. So, we started a bed time routine which starts off with a bath, then a bottle, then cuddle time in our bedroom with both of us, then going to sleep in their own cribs. It took 6 hours, but they both slept in their cribs from 3:00am to 7:30am!!! This was the second night we did the routine. The first night, after 5 hours the babies won and I brought them back into our bed to finally sleep. Last night was the first night without their suckies as well. We found that we spent more time putting them back into their mouths when they fell out. Or, they would get mad at them and take their hands and put them under the suckies and throw them away!! Little monkeys! So, we are suckie free and so far so good!!

They are getting so very big. The don't fit into their newborn clothing anymore. They are now wearing size 3 to 6 months! This week is another big week for them....They get their first needles on Wednesday. I am hoping it goes well...it probably won't though and that is OK...Just another thing we need to get through.

As for me and daddy d, we are both doing well. I have learned that I can indeed function on 5 hours of interrupted sleep. Sleep in highly overrated lol! I have learned that in order for the babies to be calm, I also have to remain calm. No matter how tired or frustrated I get, I put on a calm front for the boys....and it seems to be working. Dallas is doing great too! He has his share of baby time when he is home and the boys love hanging out with him. It is hard for him to be away from us when he is at work...especially when the boys do something cute that he misses. We have "parent meetings" every day to discuss what the boys did that day..what worked and what didn't. We remain a united front with the boys because we believe consistency is best for them.

DBK
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KAK
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Babies!
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Monday, August 31, 2009

10 weeks later...10 weeks old!

Well, the boys are now 10 weeks old....time sure does fly! They are doing great. It is amazing how much work twins are. It is fun though! The boys are both over 9lbs now. They are eating every 2 hours during the day and every 4 hours or so during the night. I hope I will be able to keep up with this blog now that things have somewhat settled down. My goal is to update it as often as possible to let everyone know how they are doing. 

They are starting to be more aware of their surroundings now. They will try to grab and hold on to objects. They love their Baby Einstein play mat from Kelly and Jeff! The bright colors keep them entertained for about 10 minutes or so. 


They both have their own personalities already. Kennedy is a bit more fussy than Dylan. He seems to have more stomach issues,but he eats well and fast. Dylan is more calm. He doesn`t burp as good as Kennedy and he often gets tired before he finished eating. Both babies have their good and bad days. It seems they communicate to each other already. If one is being fussy and I finally calm him down, the other one will start to act up! It is like they say to each other " Ok...it is your turn to make mommy`s head explode!" 


Tummy Time for the boys! 
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Hanging out in their bouncy chairs!
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Dylan in the bath with daddy for the first time!
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Kennedy in the bath with daddy for the first time!
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Hanging out with daddy on the play mat!
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Friday, July 3, 2009

6 Weeks of hospital bedrest...then the babies were born!!!!!!!!

It has been quite a while since I last updated this blog. Two days after my last entry, Dallas and I had to go to the hospital because I started to bleed. My doctor told me to really be careful starting week 28 because of the Placenta Previa, and sure enough... one day after week 28 started the bleeding began. Dallas drove me to the hospital here in Camrose at about 2:45am. I was there about 20 minutes when they called my doctor. He came in right away and told us that we were being transferred to the Royal Alexandra hospital in Edmonton. This hospital has a level 3 NICU...it is the best there is.

While we were waiting for the ambulance, they hooked me up to the monitor to check for the babies heartbeats. They also gave me steroids to help mature the boys lungs. The babies showed no signs of distress at all. They were doing great. What a relief! So, the ambulance came and off I went. Dallas followed the ambulance all the way to Edmonton. For me, the ambulance ride was long. I was in a lot of pain from cramping and all I wanted to do was close my eyes and try to rest. But, the paramedic wouldn't have that...he kept me talking the whole way there.

Things were a bit of a blur that morning. I remember talking to a million different people about a variety of different things....doctors...residents...social workers...dieticians....everyone was asking a million questions and giving us tons of information. The one thing I do remember was when I asked the doctor how long I will be in the hospital for. She asked how far along I was and I told her 28 weeks. She looked at me and said that I would be in the hospital for 10 weeks...or until the babies were born. I know I heard what she said, but I didn't believe it. In the next few days, I asked the same question to every doctor, resident and nurse that came to see me. They all gave me the same information. I was in for the long haul.

The first day went by quickly. Dallas stayed with me until the late afternoon. After a lot of convincing, he went home to get some sleep. My first night was awful. I was an emotional wreck. I cried most of the night, but eventually fell asleep. At this point, the bleeding had stopped. I was still in pain but nothing compared to the pain I went through in the weeks to come.

My time in the hospital was filled with a lot of laying down and sleeping. There was no Internet access, but Dallas brought our laptop so I could watch movies. The days dragged on forever but the weeks went by quickly. Dallas came to visit me every Tuesday, Thursday Saturday and Sunday and also every time I started to bleed out, which turned out to be 8 times. It took him 1 1/2 hours to drive to the hospital....He was crazy for coming to visit so much. I couldn't have done it without him. He was my rock through all the craziness that happened in the 6 weeks I was there. His number one priority was to make sure I was OK and to make sure I had enough things to do to keep me busy. He would show up to visit me with a smile on his face...even though he was exhausted from working 10 hours each day and driving a total of 3 hours to come visit me for 2. He was the highlight of my day and I counted down the hours until he would be at the hospital with me again.

As I said before, throughout my stay at the Royal Alex I started to bleed out 8 times. Every time I would be rushed up to labour and delivery. They would hook me up to the monitor to keep a close eye on the boys. Being hooked up to the monitor was painful. You had to lay on your back while they tracked the boys heart rates. There was thick bands to hold the monitors in place that wrapped around my body....the shortest amount of time I was up there was 7 hours...the longest was 32 hours. During this time, I was not allowed to have anything to eat or drink. I was hooked up to an IV and also a catheter for the two longest trips upstairs. The other times, I had to use a bedpan...ewww. The nurse would check all my vitals every hour and also monitor the bleeding. Once the bleeding stopped, I was allowed to go back down to my own room. After a few trips up, they all got used to Dallas and I. Most of the time, I was more calm than the nurses taking care of me. The worst trip upstairs was definitly the one that lasted 32 hours. We thought for sure that we were going to have to deliver the babies. It even went as for as me signing the consent form for the csection. I was only 30 weeks at that time. During this trip upstairs, Kennedy's water also broke. They started me on antibiotics to ensure there was not an infection. They also gave me an ultrasound to check on his fluid levels. The amniotic fluid replaces itself every 3 hours. His levels were good. Actually, both babies were troopers throughout the whole ordeal. They showed no signs of stress or trauma at all from all the drama I was going though. Thank goodness. I was OK with me going through everything but if my itty bitty babies were affected, I would have lost it.

So the next 4 weeks were filled with trips upstairs, trips downstairs, ultrasounds, doctors visits, resident visits, social worker visits.....lots of waiting. Finally at week 32 my doctor told me that she was planning on doing the csection at about 34 weeks. At first, I didn`t believe it. The next day I asked her about it again. She said that the risks outweigh the benefits for keeping them in until 36 weeks. With Kennedy`s water broken and the chances of me bleeding so bad that it could really hurt the babies or myself, she decided it was best to take them out sooner than later. This was confirmed once again the last time I went upstairs which was at 33 weeks. She told Dallas and I that she will be booking the csection for Monday June 22nd. I was so excited! I only had 1 more week to go! Thankfully the boys behaved for the last week.

We had the boys on Monday June 22nd. Kennedy was born at 3:16pm with a weight of 4lbs 14oz and Dylan was born one minute later at 3:17pm weighing 5lbs. Kennedy came out screaming but it took Dylan a bit longer because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. Both babies were brought to the NICU and Dallas followed. I went to recovery and waited to hear back from Dallas to see how the boys were. Uncle Klayton was also with us through the delivery. He came out to Alberta a couple of weeks before. It was so nice to have him there with us. We will never forget everything he did to help us on our special day!

The boys were doing ok but they both had some breathing problems. Kennedy stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks and Dylan for 4. We decided to take Kennedy home when he was ready, leaving Dylan in the hospital for 9 more days. It was a hard decision to make....we didn`t want to separate them but Kennedy didn`t need to be in there so we decided it is best to bring him home.

We visited Dylan in the hospital pretty much every day...we were so happy when he was able to come home. On July 18th, Dylan finally came home and out family was all together again!



One of our many trips up to L&D
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Daddy D and I hanging out in the hospital. The bears are in the same position the boys are in!
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Another Labour and Delivery Trip
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The day before the C-Section! 34 weeks pregnant!
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Talking to my mom before we go in.
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On our way to the OR! This is the first time I walked in 6 weeks!
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Daddy D waiting for me to get prepped for surgery!
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Kennedy Alexander Born June 22 2009 at 3:16pm. 4lbs 14oz
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Dylan Bruno Born June 22 2009 at 3:17pm. 5lbs even
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Daddy D with the boys!
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Me with my boys!
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First family pic
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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Ultrasound #4! (week 27)

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Me and Dallas went all the way to Red Deer last Wednesday to get another ultrasound done. It was so nice to have Dallas there again...He hasn't seen the babies since we were 16 weeks. The ultrasound tech was so nice. She took the time to show us each baby and she explained everything that she was doing. The boys were actually calm this time. I didn't drink tea on Wednesday morning, and I think that had to do with the fact that they were so good. It only took her about 35 minutes to get all the measurements she needed. Usually, it takes over an hour with a lot of poking and prodding to get the babies in the right positions so she can get her pictures.

Also, for the first time Dylan is also head down! We finally got a picture with both of them together....even though it is only the tops of their heads! The only downside with Dylan being head down is that now he also likes to chill out in my ribs......I knew it would happen some time lol!

I am doing a lot of resting. I never thought it would be as hard as it is. There is just so many things I would love to do during the day, but I physically can't. Dallas is a huge help....he is taking over the dishes and the laundry and anything else that needs to be done. The pain I feel in my belly and back is getting worse and worse. The only thing that helps it is for me to lay down in bed or take a shower or bath. So, I do a lot of that.

The boys are doing great. The tech said they are still about the same size. She was happy with everything. Next step is my doctors appointment on Wednesday!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Another new doctor! (Week 26)

So, I went to go see my doctor again yesterday. He went over the ultra sound results with me. My placenta is totally covering my cervix now (it was just covering it half way before) which is bad. The weight of the placenta and the weight of the boys on top of it is a recipe for disaster. So, I am off work and I need to rest as much as possible. I can be on my feet for a little bit at a time, but mostly I need to be sitting or laying down. 

Because of the complete placenta previa, I now need to go to another doctor in Edmonton. Edmonton has more resources if something goes wrong during the c-section and the doctor I will be going to  has more experience with placenta previa and Monochorionic/Diamniotic twins. So in the long run, it is better...I just really don't want to have to drive to Edmonton every week.....It hurts me to be in a car for 15 minutes, let along 1 hour! But again, this is what we have to do to make sure our boys are healthy.

My belly is getting bigger and bigger....it is so cool to see my belly move when the boys kick me! They kick so hard now...it keeps me up most nights!

Love you all!



Monday, April 27, 2009

Another trip to emerg! (Week 26)

Dallas and I made yet another trip to emergency last night. At about 9:30pm, I was in major pain all over my stomach and all over my back. My belly was also getting hard, then soft. We tried laying down, and the pain did not stop. Because of the fact that we are at a high risk for preterm labour, we decided to go to emergency at 10:30pm. We were seen right away and hooked up to the fetal heart beat machine to do a "stress test".  This test basically measures the babies heart beats for 20 minutes as well as any contractions I have and it tells the doctor if the babies are OK.  It was nice to hear their little heart beats again. We could also hear every time they kick. It sounded like a little "thud". I would tell Dallas "That was Kennedy!" or "That one was Dylan!". They were kicking like crazy. Actually, their kicking is starting to hurt now....and if you look at my belly you can actually see it move when they kick!

After the stress test, they called our doctor who advised them that we are  at high risk for preterm labour and that he would like a Fetal Fibronectin test done.  This test will tell if you are going to go into labour in the next two weeks. 

Luckily, both tests came back negative. The babies are fine, but once again I am not. The pain I am feeling is "normal".  I can take Tylenol for it, but basically I there is nothing else that can be done. The doctor at the hospital also advised that I am not to work for the rest of the week. I see my doctor on Wednesday, who will assess the situation at that time, but it is looking like I am done work. Because of the Placenta Previa (placenta covering my cervix) and because of the fact that the boys are identical, I am at a higher risk of having them early and any physical work adds to the risk. 

So, there will be a lot of resting in my near future. I am still in a lot of pain but I can take it! As long as the babies are happy and healthy, I am fine with dealing with the other side affects.

Lots of love!


P.S Here are the pics from the ultra sound last week!


Kennedy
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Dylan
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