Thank you Aunt Stacie, Uncle Arie, cousins Tanner, Malorie and Gabrielle!

Last night we went down town Seattle to meet Stephanie and Shaundy and of course Madeleine and Hailey. The girls rode the carousel while we changed a dirty diaper. Ah the good life! This evening we went to the Mahler's home to celebrate Christmas with them. Grei is really enjoying getting to know the people in his life. Thank you all for giving him such a warm welcome :) *except Uncle Justin, you're kinda scary...

I started playing with our video editor - here is a rough rough draft of unseen Grei footage.

Grei's Ornament - ho ho ho

4 months old!

We visited the dr on December 2 for Grei's 4 month check up. He weighed 15lb 12oz (69%) and was 25" long (56%).
He did really well when he got his shots and didn't cry for very long. Mommy did better this time too. The prognosis was good - looks like he's a happy healthy baby!

Arcani Grei and Vincent

Grei and Vincent are just about the same size now - 15 -16 pounds. This picture is their first time hanging out next to each other. Grei only had eyes for mommy. Be thankful V.

First nIght in crib!

Grei slept 5 and a half hours in his crib last night ( we moved it into our room ). It felt strange not to have him right next to me and I kept getting up to check on him when he would make noises. In the morning, after dadda was taking care of Grei, I slept until 1pm! We are going to try again tonight - wish us luck.

more dialogue from the chair

Grei is 3.5 months old here. He has really been picking up on his volume and variety in communication.

3 months

Now that Grei is officially an infant, I looked back over his newborn pictures and was amazed at how much he has changed already in his short life. He was so much smaller and his hair was much darker than it is today. I also noted how things have progressively gotten easier for us. The beginning was very difficult and it took awhile to find a balance to our life. I still am tired at the end of the day when dadda gets home but my stress level is much lower and Grei and I have a lot of fun. I did a photo shoot for him on Sunday when he turned 3 months (13 weeks). There wasn't enough lighting to get quality pictures but they sure turned out cute. enjoy :)

photo shoot - 3 month

Halloween Pictures - 2009

Halloween Pictures

This evening we went to Stacie and Aaron's house to meet Jayling for the first time. Nick, Midi and Lincoln joined us there. It was great to get the three babies together. We went trick or treating at the Mill Creek Town Center which was very busy but lots of fun. Most of the stores were giving out candy to the Trick or Treaters. Grei slept through the procession though his presence enabled us to get treats on his behalf - ha ha. We had fun with our friends and enjoyed Grei's first Halloween very much. Click on the "Halloween Pictures" link for more photos. Happy Halloween!

Conversation with 10 week old Grei!

Let it download before watching by pushing pause.

2 Months Today!

Our bunny rabbit is 2 months old today !

We went to the doctor for his check up and first shots.

He did very well - cried when they went in but then immediately calmed down. I was impressed. It was hard for me not to cry - too much. I feel much better about getting him vaccinated now.

He weighed 12lb 4oz - 69%

His height is 23.5" - 76%

His head circumference is 41.5cm - 87%

Overall doing very well though we did get our first diaper rash :(

Any advise on how to make that more comfortable is welcome.

Other than that - he is talking to us, smiling and laughing.

He is rolling over sometimes and is just discovering his hands.

Being his parents is so fun!

This gets easier right?

We LOVE Grei-by! It's all I can do to keep up with his needs during the day and thankfully dadda is home on Wednesdays so we can have a midweek break. Between pumping, feeding, sleeping and entertaining him, I am lucky if I get dressed during the day, sometimes I look at myself in the mirror only to realize this. Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining - only am surprised by the sheer amount of energy a baby needs in order to maintain. It's Sunday night and I should be sleeping and will be ... after I get his bottles from the dish washer, clean the cat litter, bring garbages down stairs and get the house set up for bed. Ry will still be up getting little one to sleep after I go and they will join me later in the night... ahhh

I did get all the laundry done this weekend - almost :)

Dreft

We've been washing laundry all day today in Dreft as Arcani has developed a rash and dry skin. We had been using the scent free detergent and softner but he still has dry skin on his little legs and arms. We've also started our humidifier for our bedroom early this year so he won't wake up stuffy in the mornings. The Dr. had said that using lotion on his face would upset the infant acne that he had but he is mostly through that and now just has dry skin. I've been using Aveno baby lotion on his face every day after I wash it and it seems to be working. Hope all this helps him feel better.

Arcani Grei's first 6 weeks

click link for more pictures ~ http://ry-kristina.smugmug.com/Children/Arcani-Greis-first-6-weeks/9620124_CB5yA/1/648314150_tigXT

He is growing up so fast

Arcani's umbilical cord came off today in his blanket! I am so excited to put him in real clothing besides t-shirts. We have a dr.'s appointment at Children's hospital tomorrow morning to check out his cleft palate. Hoping all goes great and that he won't need surgery in the future...

Pictures

The password for the baby pictures is: AGR

http://ry-kristina.smugmug.com/gallery/9164725_h5wVY/1/611504694_7aN3R

Arcani Grei has joined the family

Arcani was born via c-section on Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 at 1:24 am. He was 8lbs 13oz. and 20.5 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well. We will be moving to our post-partum room in a little while.

Preparing for surgery

We just had our last check-up and there has been no more progress in dilation. We suspect an issue with the cervix so we are now planning to have a c-section. It should happen within a few hours. Mom is calm and ready to meet the baby.

Still waiting...

Epidural is in, Petocin is still cranking, but progress is very slow. Not sure if this baby will come naturally or if we'll have to go in and get him. Luckily both mom and baby are doing fine and vitals holding steady.

Slow and steady

Labor is progressing but at a slow and constant rate. It's probable he'll be delivered today, but maybe not until tonight. We'll likely have visitors sometime tomorrow, but we'll let you know depending on how the rest of labor goes.

Starting...

Petocin has now been administered so we expect to see things ramping up soon. Hopefully we'll get to meet him today!

"Not Ready Yet", he says

We are seeing progress, but the staff doesn't see a need to push it tonight so they are granting us one more night of sleep. :-) Hopefully we can take advantage.

Tomorrow morning we'll try and get things moving again. Looks like he's an August baby!

We came to the hospital at 11 am this morning and are being induced.
My contractions have increased and we are all doing very well.
We'll see if Arcani is born either July 31st or August 1st :)

Update

We went to our appointment today and are on track to be induced sometime this weekend, possibly tomorrow. We'll be in contact with you again after we give birth and are ready for company :)

date update

Shaundy is the only one left of us who might have the date right guessing 7/31. My dad guessed today but unless anything changes, it looks like it is out. Ry's dad guessed August 1st but since he did it after Arcani's due date, he only gets partial credit if he is right :)

All time heat record today.

No signs. Acupuncture was hot yesterday, it's in the Olive Medical Dental Building by Pacific Place and there is no air conditioning. I closed my eyes and pretended it was a sauna. Five needles fell out of me - I think Arcani is done with Acupuncture :) He was moving so much yesterday I wonder if he is trying to find a way out as much as I'd like to have him out here. Today is a day of rest and tomorrow we have our doctor appointment in the afternoon.

Acupuncture at 2:30pm. I think we're using electricity today :)

We have been trying Pineapple, walking, acupressure, and coaxing. He is not convinced.

Not today - this is getting old...

they released us

We were monitored for an hour and everything looks great.

Arcani's decided on a different birthday.

Wake up call

We received a message this morning from the on call Dr. asking us to come in for monitoring. We are taking everything with us just in case.

On a side note, contractions have been increasing this morning.

:)

The Rorschach test

Yesterday, we had our weekly appointment to check on Grei. The doctor was listening to his heart and decided to send us over to triage because she heard a dip in his rate. I was excited because that meant that we were going to get an ultrasound and see him for the first time in 22 weeks. They hooked us up to the monitoring machine in triage and then someone came to wheel the bed to the ultrasound room which was on the floor below us. I felt like a patient - it was kind of fun being wheeled around a hospital on a bed. They also had cool painted tiles on the ceiling which you would never know were there unless you were in my position. The ultrasound went well, he has a great heart and we were able to see his kidneys, spleen, and gall bladder as well. The nurse showed us that he has hair - more on the back of his head than on the top. His cute little hands were both up by his face which is facing my right hip. His amniotic fluid levels looked good. The only thing that he didn't do for the nurse was breathe - I know he practices cause he gets hiccups at least one to three times a day every day.

Once we were transferred back upstairs, we were hooked up to the monitoring machine again to listen to his heart rate and to try and pick up what Dr. Putenat was hearing during our appointment. He seemed to be doing fine but every once in awhile his rate would drop down around 90 bpm and then go back up to around 130/140bpm.

All of the sudden a nurse comes in and is tearing open a bag with an oxygen mask in it and putting it on me telling me "sweetie, your baby is not doing so hot" Then she grabs a gown and has me take off my shirt to put it on. The next thing I know, there are two nurses and two doctors in there. The second nurse tells me that I might as well get comfortable cause there is no way I am going home and that I need to prepare for an emergency c-section. She comments that I am handling this so calmly unless I am hiding being scared. I wasn't - I just didn't see the big emergency that they did. The second nurse put an subcutaneous catheter in the back of my wrist. The doctor looked at the pattern of his heart rate while feeling Grei kick and I saw her face change from deep concern to amusement. She said that no baby who moves this much is in trouble. He has a lower standing heart rate and his movements were raising his heart rate making the patterns look scary, like his rate was dropping/crashing. She said it was like a rorschach test where if you look at the pattern one way, it is really bad but that if you look at it another way, it is actually an extremely healthy sign. She had the nurse inject my leg with Terbutaline Sulfate to stop the contractions (I couldn't feel them) that I was having so that Grei's heart rate would not be effected by the contractions. He stabilized and they kept us there for another couple of hours just to make sure all was well before sending us home. Before we left, the doctor came in to apologize for causing us concern. I am just thankful that she was experienced enough to see what was going on and that I didn't have to have an emergency c-section.

7/23/2009

No baby :)

Due date today 7/22/2009

No signs of Arcani coming yet ...

Grei is too young

Please feed the fish.

Ouch Grei!

Mr. has been kicking me on my left ribs all morning, when I put my hand down to block him he kicks harder... the only thing stopping him is the fact that I am now vertical. Poor baby has no room left. My stomach looks like the snake that ate the elephant in "The Little Prince" ;)

counting

1 week and 5 days! I have been feeling increased pressure on pelvis and back. Also more intense kicks to the ribs. We're all ready for you to make your grand entrance little one!

3 weeks and counting. It's getting hot outside. Grei is doing well - tickling my ribs at night.

We're getting very excited. It's my third day staying home from work -niiice. I sleep alot. Today I have a dr. appt. for my ears. They seem to be wet all the time. Also I am checking to see if this dr. does family practice and if Grei and I can share her for awhile. Ry gets the next four days off and we are going swimming tomorrow at the Coleman pool :)

Due date 7/22/2009

Arcani Grei is arriving in about 4 weeks! He hasn't engaged so I don't think he'll be coming early.

I am thinking of stopping work this week as I have been so tired and the house still needs to be prepared... or at least cleaned before we bring him home :)