Tummy Time

This morning we mandated "Tummy Time" for Harrison. While infants need to sleep on their backs to lower the risk of SIDS, evidently they do not get enough time on their tummys to exercise their neck muscles or work on rolling over; some kids will skip crawling and go straight to walking (neither good nor bad) because they did not get enough practice crawling due to lack of time tummy side down. Therefore we need to have some tummy time every day and today was our first real go at it. We proclaimed it a good session as Harrison worked on picking up his head and kicking out his legs... you can see the results below for yourself. Note: he looks like he is crying but he is not (although he was certainly frustrated!).

Starting out...

Kicking out his legs... infants can pseudo crawl...

uh oh... getting frustrated...

quick rest before starting all over again!

Bath Time for Harrison!

Today Harrison had his first bath at home. I would like to say that we had planned this exciting moment however the event was spurred to fruition when our little man vomited his breakfast all over himself (don't worry, he's not ill). So what better time than the present to break open the bath tub box (literally) and get the ball rolling. At first blush he hated the event and wailed however once mom dunked a washcloth in warm water and placed it over his body he immediately quited down and began enjoying the experience. We couldn't help but think that it reminded him of being back in momma's tummy.

FIRST BATH AT HOSPITAL

FIRST BATH AT HOME

At about the 2 week old mark, we gave Harrison his first official sponge bath. Using a washcloth and a glass mixing bowl I use for baking, we cleaned the little dude to daddy's delight... he had been asking for a week when we could bath him... considering we shower daily dad just felt that baby should get his turn too. This session also included a good deal of wailing since we couldn't pour water over him to keep him warm. Winston looked on curiously from the hallway outside Harrison's bedroom.

FIRST SPONGE BATH

Trip to West Seattle & Other Stuff

Sadly Winnie had to go back to Las Vegas last Thursday (miss you momma!) so we decided to spend the afternoon West Seattle before heading out to the airport. Although we have been to West Seattle many times, the view of downtown and Elliot Bay still takes my breath away. The first visit for me was in November 1997... Michael drove me over there at night and popped open a box of chocolate covered strawberries and said "happy one month anniversary!" I was certainly impressed with him as well as the view - the lights of downtown reflecting off the tranquil waters on a cold, clear night. Ah, young love!

After a leisurely drive along Alki, we stopped by Husky Deli to say hi to cousins Alice, Jack & Ian and show off the baby and then headed over to the bakery down the street for a slice of carrot cake and almond croissants. If you click on the link there is a picture of Jack and Ian and Ian's son in the bottom right corner.

Great-Grandpa Hugh (Michael's grandfather) has very much enjoyed of the arrival of Harrison and stops by our home nearly every day. He sits and holds Harrison while we watch a little ESPN and perhaps munch on some cookies or other treats. We enjoy his quiet, calming presence and hope that he is happy and enjoys his great-grandson as well.

Lastly I had to show this awesome Diaper Cake. After my baby showers, I realized that I had not received a diaper cake and was slightly bummed just because I think they are super creative and fun. Well, a few days after we came home from the hospital, Aunt Sharon (Raina's aunt) sent us this diaper cake that was so well done I had surely thought she had ordered it from a professional. The little toys are bath toys and she rolled up baby socks to make them look like roses. I love it!

Lastly, here are a couple cute pics of Harrison at about 8 days old.

Best Day

Today I was very excited to look down and find that my belly button is no longer an outtie but an innie again! I had thought it would be a gradual process... when my belly grew it went from innie to somewhat flat to an outtie. But no, it just popped back in today. HOORAY!

First Family Outing

Although we have been happy snuggling at home with baby Harrison, getting out of the house was certainly good for the soul. With mom visiting, a short drive to Snoqualamie Falls last Monday made the perfect scenic outing despite the cloudy weather; mom ensured Harrison was extra-super-duper-bundled against the elements.

After enjoying the view, we ventured into the lodge for a cup of hot chocolate where a very enthusiastic young server recommended the "Chocolate Pot" to share. This entailed very rich melted chocolate mixed with vanilla infused creme and milk mixed in a very interesting looking pitcher. Michael asked the server about the history behind the special pot however the young man thought we wanted to know about the history of hot chocolate at which time he told us the Aztecs discovered the cocoa bean (ok) and brought it back to their King in Spain (huh?!) and then King Louis (of France - which one?!!) gave it to his wife to share with her friends in the courts of England (wow...). We could tell that he had surely tried to memorize this story but hadn't quite mastered his history lessons not to mention time lines. In any case, it was fantastic hot chocolate!

The Birth Story (All the Gory Details)

Harrison is now four months old so I am writing this 17 weeks later from a slightly faded memory and with the help of notes from my doula. Many women say that they don't really remember the pain or the details and there is a part of me that would like to forget some of this, but in the interest of posterity... here we go.

Monday, February 2, 2009
I have decided this will be my last week of work; we have scheduled an induction for Friday the 13th (my mother is horrified at the inauspicious day). The single kidney I was born with is working overtime for the baby and me so an early arrival is in my best interest. For months we have been affectionately referring to the baby as "Barry" and so I have marked my calendar "Friday the 13th - Barry Day." The temp hired to work my job arrives and as I show her around, my peer jokes that the temp will get more training then the 3 hours he got... on his first day, his counterpart came in to work for 3 hours to get him set up and then left to begin her maternity bed rest. Trial by fire. We all laugh at his humor and then we sit down to train.

At 9:30am the doctor's office calls; the latest blood test shows that my kidney is working too hard and for my health we need to try to have this baby earlier. Can I be there in an hour for an amniocentesis? Ok. I hang up the phone, gather my stuff and run (waddle) out the door. My temp got less than 90 minutes of training.

Michael meets me at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office; I sent him a text message telling him to meet me there, that this baby might be born tomorrow. He is in slight shock at the suddenness but remains cool. Lying on the table, I concentrate on the tv monitor, avoiding direct sight of the gigantic needle being inserted into my tummy and through the placenta; like Perseus catching a glimpse of Medusa. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined, it felt like a blood draw (which I had become accustomed to nearly every other week of the pregnancy). Watching the needle on the screen was kind of surreal and I just hoped they didn't poke Barry, which she successfully avoided. They would call us later in the day; the vial of amniotic fluid will be rushed to the UW Medical Center to analyze the development of Barry's lungs. If the lungs are developed, we are having this baby.

To pass the time and pick up some last minute items, we go shopping at Target. Luckily, my baby showers were about 8 days prior and we had received most everything we needed but it was all sitting in piles in Barry's room. We sort through the piles, wash clothes and put things away in the dresser. It is weird to think that within a day or so a little dude will be wearing these onsies.

After learning that the test was positive, I go into Dr. Robertson's office to have a Foley Catheter inserted. It's basically a rubber tube inserted into my cervix which is then filled with saline to make it blow up like a balloon; this will force my cervix to dilate some so that I am not at zero cm when they start the pictocin in the morning. It's not really painful but kind of uncomfortable. Thankfully I am allowed to go home and come back in the morning rather than check in right away.

We go home and pop in "The Happiest Baby On the Block" DVD which we had not yet watched, a sort of baby cram session, if you will. The bags are packed and there isn't much else to do until our 7am check in at the hospital.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009
3am: I go to the bathroom and the Foley Catheter falls out (they said it may happen). I go back to bed feeling a little more comfortable without it.

7am: We drive 5 blocks to Evergreen Hospital with bags, pillow, camera and car sear in tow. We get situated in the room and I am immediately hooked up to an IV, which is needed to administer the Pitocin, the drug that will begin my labor. Eventually, I will also get bags of Antibiotics (I tested positive for Group B Strep) which burn like ice through my arm; the nurse was kind and was able to "cut" it with saline but it was still uncomfortable. Michael sets up the laptop and webcam and we call Jonathan in Boston and chat a little bit while we wait for the show to get started.

After three hours of waiting, the show has not started. Evidently a lot of women were going into labor that morning and there is a shortage of nursing staff so we have to wait. The doctor comes in and then leaves when she sees I don't have the pitocin. At 10:45 it is finally game time and the Pitocin begins to drip into my IV. Everyone says the stuff is evil - it gives you terribly painful contractions but I feel nothing. In fact, I am told to start walking the halls to try to "move things along." Up and down, back and forth we waddle, IV bags in tow on a pole. Totally boring. Michael's best friend Robert arrives and claims one of the large, comfy recliners in the waiting room which is at the end of the hall, a kind of sun room as the chairs are surrounded by big windows. We joke around a bit and I know that both Michael and I are glad that he is here. He has never held a baby in his life and he has promised to hold ours despite his fear of breaking it.


Shortly thereafter, Dreslaine and Steve arrive with Grandpa Hugh in tow. They knew the morning would be slow so they took Grandpa to the one-day-only-free-breakfast at Denny's. That makes grandpa happy and we chuckle about it.

By this time our doula, Shawnette, arrives. She is ready to make this baby happen and we discuss what we will do to help it along. Throughout the day and night we will continue to walk the halls, sit on an exercise ball bouncing and rocking, rock in a Rocking Chair, lay belly down on a huge bean bag on the bed, and do lunges and squats to open the pelvic floor. While she referred to it as "a lot of hard work," I was kind of glad I had something to do and concentrate on that was helpful, rather than just lay around and wait for the Pitocin to eventually kick in.

Dr. Robertson comes in a few hours later and wants to break my water to "move things along." Shawnette had suggested we ask if she will just strip the membranes instead and see if things will progress more naturally so I ask if this is possible. Dr. R simply says "no" and literally 2 seconds later she is jamming that crochet hook up my cervix. Any other woman I have talked to says that this process is merely uncomfortable at worst and a non event at best. All I know is that I feel severe discomfort and pain but she keeps trying to hook the bag and I try not to squirm. I can hardly breath and am becoming seriously distressed, tears flooding down my cheeks. She finally relents, realizing how painful it is for me and I think she apologizes. She says she was digging around because she couldn't seem to hook the bag of waters, only snag it, so water is only leaking out instead of flowing out like it should. She will return later to check on me. I am seriously upset. I was happy-go-lucky 5 minutes ago and now I am really upset. In retrospect, the doula and I think the doctor was hooking some part of me, perhaps a random piece of cervix that shouldn't be there.

If all that wasn't bad enough, this happens two more times throughout the day; by that time I had the on call doctor who was kinder and a bit gentler - she at least asks me if I am ready for her to try again. Each time they would come in to check my dilation and effacement, I was progressing but it was like 2, then 2.5 then 3 and each time they tried to break the water to make it go faster. On the pain scale, breaking my water is right up there with pitocin-induced-active-labor-contractions... things I wish I could forget but the memory is burned onto the surface of my brain.

My mom caught a flight out of Vegas and arrives at the hospital around 11:00pm. By this time the pitocin has been cranked up to about 17 and it is hard to talk while having a contraction, let alone stand without leaning on something or someone. But mommy is here and I walk the hall with a pained smile on my face and tell her it doesn't hurt that bad. I manage three passes and then bid her good night and get into the room as fast as I can so I can allow my face to contort into pain.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Around 12:30am the contractions all of a sudden get very severe; within 5 minutes the contractions are so painful I cannot talk and can't help but cry. Where did this crazy pain come from? Michael is holding me and he and Shawnette are trying to make me comfortable and breath through the pain, focus on happy thoughts, etc. While I had always planned on an epidural, I had wanted to wait as long as possible. For the next hour, my sense of stupid pride pushes me to bear through the awful pain. To boot I have "labor shakes" - the sudden rise in pain causes the body to produce endorphins which results in my body shaking uncontrollably. I feel like I have no control over my body at all.

Shawnette leaves the room to get something and with just the two of us there, Michael whispers in my ear, "tell me what you are thinking." I know what he is asking and I force myself to tell the truth: "I want an epidural." Seconds later he is telling the nurse I want the drugs and to get the anesthesiologist. He told me later that he had heard the nurses saying that the anesthesiologist was on the floor and that he had a C-section at 6am so he knew we shouldn't wait too long to ask. Technically I had to be dilated to 4cm but I was not too keen to have them check again. Thankfully Nurse Becca called the doctor and I heard her explain that she was sure I was in active labor as I had the shakes and the pain was so severe. The doctor gave the go ahead to order the epidural sans exam.

Knowing the drugs were on the way was the only thing that got me through the pain while I waited the 15 minutes for him to arrive. When he did arrive, he told me to call him Dave and got to work right away. I was petrified, not of the giant needle but the fact that I was shaking so hard I didn't know how I would keep still long enough for Dave to insert the giant needle into my spine without paralyzing me. Somehow I manage to keep still just long enough and Dave worked quickly and calmly and got me hooked up. What I did not expect was how long the drugs take to numb the body. It was at least 20 minutes before I felt any numbness at all and about 30 minutes to get my right side completely numb... it became evident the drugs were not distributing evenly so they had to roll me onto my side so gravity would move them to the left side. In all it took about 45-50 minutes for the pain to subside. The pain of the contractions were so awful that I didn't know how I would survive each one while waiting for the epidural to take effect.

3:30am and I am nice and numb and ready for sleep. Becca does a pelvic exam and says I am 6.5 cm dilated. THANK GOD! I had been progressing so slowly before that I though I was at 4cm and crying for an epidural... I had made it to six and a half. Although I had been crying and nearly begging for drugs, my pride was satisfied I had made it so far as the pain is said to peak at 7cm. I bunker down for some much needed sleep; Michael is asleep on his window bed and Shawnette is drifting off in a chair as well.

5:00am and I am feeling some pressure on my pelvic floor so I push the magic epidural button. It persists and starts to get stronger and I begin to panic that maybe the epidural slipped out so I ask Becca if this is normal. She assures me it is, the baby is just descending lower. I am still a little panicked that this was not going to be as pain free as I had imagined. At 5:30am Shawnette and Michael wake up and try to gather their wits about them. I am still worried about the epidural so the nurse checks me. There is some stupid little flimsy piece of plastic on the tubing that Dave had said specifically not to pull on, as it is the weakest link in the hook up. Evidently it had caught on something and had slipped out or broke; the good news is we think it had just happened. Dave comes up to fix it, no harm done.

6:15'ish The nurse tells me I can go ahead and try to push, like a test push. I push and evidently the baby descends really fast, nearly beginning to crown. Becca grabs the phone and calls the on call doctor and whips out a tray covered with a cloth from nowhere. It is evident that she did not anticipate the baby to move so quickly. She and Shawnette coach me through the pushing; while I have some sense of feeling, they need to guide me so I use the right muscles and Shawnette reminds me to relax my face or I will pop blood vessels in my eyes (it actually felt like it might happen). I got the hang of it pretty quick and the baby keeps getting closer to his debut.

6:45am The on call doc, Dr. P, arrives and kind of makes a scene asking why the 7am on call Doc (Dr. G) couldn't get there instead because Dr. P needs to take her kids to school. She unfairly battles with Becca for a minute (as if it is her fault) and then turns to me and gets down to business concentrating on the task at hand. We push for 10 minutes when Dr. P begins a diatribe on how an episiotomy might be in my best interest despite the fact I had written NO episiotomy in my birth plan. She tells me a bunch of old school BS that is contradictory to everything I had read; it is clear that she is interested in delivering this baby so she can leave. She finishes her speech and turns around to do something and Nurse Becca leans over and whispers in my ear, "don't let them talk you into doing anything you don't want to do," and then she is gone, back to performing her duties. I take her advice and resist letting Dr. P cut me up to make her life easier.

At 7:00am the baby is begining to crown. I am pushing with Michael and Shawnette on either side when Dr. G walks in and within 20 seconds the two doctors switch places at the foot of my bed. It was like a hand off in a relay race. Un-freaking-believable. I am more shocked about it in retrospect then at the time since I was focused on getting the baby out.

I keep pushing and they give me oxygen between pushes. At some point in this process, I begin feeling sharp pain in my left thigh, near where my leg and my pelvis connect. Is the epidural working? Everyone is a bit stumped as this is not a common type of pain. They more or less tell me not to worry and to push through it and assure me the epidural is working. Michael is holding my left leg and giving me encouragement. People are talking around me and I get this feeling like I am in a movie... I am the unconscious person lying on the bed with people around her talking but I am thinking to myself, the only one able to understand what is going on with me. For several minutes, I feel like I am the only one paying attention to me (they were not inattentive, just discussing something).

It is seriously GO time and with every contraction I give 2-3 pushes and am so tired at the end of each set yet they ask me to squeeze in one more before the contraction ends. I do this several times and finally I give one last big push and there is a sudden, amazing release of pressure. I know the head is out and just as I expect Dr. G to ask me to push one more time to get the shoulders and body through it feels like she just pulls the baby out. I hear Shawnette say, "Oh, you little stinker!" and suddenly it is all over. There is a crying, gray, cone headed baby coming into view. He's here.

7:23am Harrison Jay Fein is officially born. Dr. G lays him on top of me; his head and face are so high up on my chest they are too close to my own eyes to focus on him clearly, which is compounded by the tears running uncontrollably down my face. Since I can't see him well, my eyes flicker to his tiny hands - my hands! He has my hands. Long, skinny fingers with long nail beds; his nails are already long and jagged and need to be cut. Michael is leaning over us and we are so unbelievably happy. That moment that just passed, that moment of birth when he entered the world... that moment is utterly indescribable. All I know is that I am happy and relieved. Happy Michael and I have this amazing baby to love and relieved that this labor ordeal is over and Harrison and I are healthy.

Harrison was born face up with the cord wrapped around his neck twice, hence Shawnette's comment, "you little stinker!" She also described him coming out at some sort of angle, like from off to one side, which she thinks caused me the pain on my left side. When a baby presents face up, the mother often experiences painful back labor which I managed not to have so it surprised everyone to see him "sunny side up."

That's my story. Amazing. If you read this far - wow, thanks for being so interested! I just had to detail it so I would not forget.

Harrison Jay Fein

Harrison Jay Fein was born on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 7:24am at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington. After a full day of labor, Harrison appeared at 6 pounds, 0.5 ounces and 19 inches, much to the excitement of the grandparents who had slept all night in the waiting room. Mom and baby are healthy and happy. Needless to say, we are overwhelmed with love for our little guy.

Thanks to all of you who sent your love, well wishes, flowers and gifts as they are all very much appreciated. Michael, Raina, Harrison and Winston are all happily at home adjusting to the new sleeping schedule and would be slowly starving if not for Winnie's (Raina's mom) excellent cooking (stay as long as you want!). Here are some of our favorite pictures, enjoy!

Baby Showers!

Last weekend I was treated to 2 baby showers, one with my girlfriends and the other with family and family friends and WOWEE was I showered with gifts! A hearty thanks to everyone that contributed to BBF's upcoming arrival - not only were they a lot of fun and it was great seeing everyone but the generosity was overwhelming. We brought home tons of clothes, essentials, handmade blankets and good advice along with some pretty interesting name suggestions (including "Mortimer" and "Aloicious!") My girlfriends also specfically themed the shower around books to help build BBF's library and it was great to receive so many books. I love that many of my friends chose their favorite books from when they were young.














The festive weekend was made even more fun as my mom and sister came up for the showers as well as our friends San Francisco, Atilla and Claire. I hadn't seen my family since September and at that point my baby bump was pretty small so it was great to have them rub the belly in it's full glory and feel Barry moving around in there.

Since Chinese New Year was Monday, on Saturday we enjoyed Dim Sum at King's Chinese Restaurant in Bellevue for lunch and as you can see the belly is big enough to balance a piping hot cup of tea.


The entire weekend was an eating schmorgaasboard. My favorite "Princess Torte Cake" was at the baby shower (marzipan covered cake with a layer of raspberry and the most delicious cream), we had the family over Saturday night for dinner which consisted of Ezell's Fried Chicken (Oprah will have it shipped to her in Chicago) and besides the delicious food at the showers, we brought leftovers home... grandma Peggy's delicious chicken cassarole, more cake etc. Hence, the BIG belly :)

Thank you Ashley, Brennan, Dreslaine, Peggy for planning and hosting the showers as well as anyone else that contributed with decorating and food (Melissa, Alexis, Rae Ann...). I will always have great memories of last weekend.

Crazy Birth Dream

Talking to mothers or reading pregnancy books there is mention about crazy birth dreams. The books say that this is normal because your body is of course preoccupied with the impending arrival and the psyche has all sorts of desires or fears which manifest in crazy dreams. For instance, I had a friend who dreamed she birthed a chocolate colored Labrador puppy and someone told me her friend dreamed she birthed a can of Hi-C.

Well, last night I had my first dream (at least that I recall) so I figure that I better blog about it before I forget it.

All I know is that I am having contractions and it is like a month before my due date and I have somehow gotten myself to the Hospital however Michael is not there yet. The doctor goes to check things out down there when I yell "It's coming, it's coming, I can't stop it!" and then I suddenly birth all my internal organs. Seriously... there is my liver, intestines etc on the bed but no baby. I am freaking out that I will die without my organs but the doctor just says calmly, "looks like we will have to do a Cesarean Section to take the baby out and put all your organs back in." At this point I know it is about 2 am and I don't know where my husband is despite calling him on his cell phone. I must have woken up because I don't remember anything else and I never saw the baby.

Not as funny as birthing a puppy but birthing all my internal organs doesn't make a whole lot of sense either! For all you amateur psychologists out there, feel free to analyze the dream and post it to the comments.

"Pregnant Woman Breaks Into Home"

Michael took a well deserved 24 hour trip to Vancouver, B.C. with a buddy to see the Vancouver Canuks Hockey game (Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon). With some quiet time on my hands Sunday, I decided to attend to some neglected chores around the house as I hadn't been feeling well the last several days. Since it was raining, I closed the door behind me as I took out the garbage only to return to a locked door (with a barking Winston behind it). Several of you may think, Good thing your neighbor boy has a key since he takes Winston out during the day. Well, sure however I stood outside my locked door swearing becuase I had just watched the family drive off for church 20 minutes prior.

So What's A Pregnant Girl To Do? Husband in Canada and not due home for 4 hours. I could have found another neighbor, called Micahel to call his parents since I don't have their number memorized and hope that they have their spare key and can let me in. However, I am way to stubborn to go that route (I had chores to conquer!). Instead I recalled that there is a certain window that doesn't latch properly. I managed to pry it open 6 inches only to be stopped by the wooden dowel that I protectively had jammed into the window ceil to prevent theives, hoodlums and robbers from breaking in. I tried slamming the window back and forth to see if the dowel would jump the track... no such luck.

Finally, I managed to get the window to pop up and over the dowel and open the window just wide enough to squeeze this big girl through it, but not without me climbing onto a flower barrel and nearly falling off! (don't worry mom, I am safe and sound). Winston looked thoroughly perplexed watching the whole thing.

I can't help but picture the whole situatuion as an onlooker from the street... like a cat burgler slipping through a window at midnight peering out to see if he is being watched... just change it to a fat girl trying to hoist herself onto the window ledge at 10am in broad day light. Better keep my day job, eh?!

Lunch with the Boss

On Tuesday, my boss comes over and asks "can I take you to lunch tomorrow?" This caught me off guard because (a) we never have lunch 1-on-1 (b) she had already marked in her schedule "very important lunch" that day and (c) I had made lunch plans with another friend (which I seldom do). Of course I said yes and then spent the next 24 hours worrying what it could be about. Is it the part time job I had requested? Would it not work out? Or maybe it's just a "Thank you and please come back to work and don't quit" conversation she wanted to have with me? The possibilities rolled through my mind all day and night. To top it all off, my jaw had been swollen and was particularly bad that day so I had to dope up on Tylenol so that I could chew and not just slurp soup (side note... it's been a really long time since I've had pain killers and boy are drugs great!).


Evidently, I am very self centered because I totally missed the warning signs that this was all a ruse for a surprise baby shower! The hostess showed us to a table in back with my entire team sitting there with smiles and gifts and well wishes. It was actually quite a feat for them to pull off because they all work in different locations and had to arrange everything without email or marking their calendars because I have access to all of that stuff and they couldn't risk that I would figure it out. My co-worker I sit right next to had to leave her desk without my noticing and then she had to send two other people over - one to distract me while the other pulled a gift out of a drawer that she had left behind. So sneaky!

Love that gift... there is a new kids movie coming out called "Hotel For Dogs" and FAO Schwartz sells plush dog figures. My friend had found the English Bull Dog "Cooper" and gave it to me as a gift. While the face isn't as bully'ish as you'd expect, the rest is great. There are back wrinkles (!) and a funny screwy tail AND you can put your fingers up under his lips and there are jowls - like pockets under the checks and skin. SUPER COOL! BBF will love it!

Bump 33 & Half Weeks

I so want my body back... I think we need to start taking these pictures head on.

Grand Dad Photos

A BIG Thank You to Auntie Barbara and Aunt Sharon for recently giving us pictures of each of our fathers when they were toddlers. We plan to frame them along side a toddler picture of Michael and put it in BBF's room. Although Dale (Raina's dad) recently decided to try a buzz cut, he has otherwise had the same hair cut most of his whole life so when Michael saw the picture he proclaimed, "He still has the same hair!"

Dale Mapel

Earl Fein

The Name Game

Everyone has been asking if we have chosen a name for BBF (Baby Boy Fein) so I thought we should just confirm that YES, we have chosen a name. Furthermore, NO, we will not tell you! :) We have elected to keep the name a secret so everyone will have a nice surprise on his Birth day. Additionally we would like to keep our options open, just in case another name comes along... we would hate for people to send us blankets with a name embroidered only to have us change our fickle minds. So basically we are keeping it a secret for your benefit. That's right, this secrecy is all for you.

Also, no, we will not give you a hint. Not even the initials. We are using the English alphabet so that tells you there are only 26 letters it could possibly be. And No, if you guess we will not tell you if you are right, wrong, hot, cold or close. Don't expect us to slip up either because we have spent the last 5 months affectionately referring to BBF as "Barry"and will call him that until his birth.

Ok, how about if we tell you that we are NOT naming him Barry. According to my Baby Name book The Very Best Baby Name Book; 60,000+ Names, that means there are only 59,999 possibilities and half of those are for girls. I know, that was a generous hint. You're welcome.

Snow Everywhere!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I woke up early to check on "Winter Storm '08" (duh, duh , dummmm...) and found there was no snow on the ground and the news channels said there was not any snow in the Seattle area (it was all further north or south). Driving to work, the news reported that the Kirkland and Bellevue school districts would be closed... while i was driving through Kirkland and Bellevue with no snow in sight. Most all my coworkers made it to work and we all laughed at the weatherman and scoffed at how they were making a mountain out of a mole hill. Well, i woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow and big, fat flakes falling. I was unable to get off of the hill we live on so it was a "snow day" for our family as Mike worked from home. My house is now pretty clean and nearly every piece of fabric in the house has been washed, dried and folded and I started on a baby quilt. Very productive.

After I called work, I got back into bed with Mike and Winston and while they snoozed i watched the flakes fall past the bedroom window. The house was completely silent... the furnace was between cycles, the refridgerator was not humming, people were still inside at 7am... it was so peaceful and it made me think that this was one of those perfect moments in life. Absolutely beautiful to all my senses. And then I thought about how this moment may not happen again for a really long time with a baby who does not understand snooze buttons or snow days. And so I decided to stay in bed for a couple more hours cuddled up with the family. It was wonderful.

Now, Seattle does not have many snow events, maybe just 1 a year or 1 every other year but snow isn't that much of a novelty, especially becuase you can hit a ski slope about 60 minutes from town. Oddly enough, my sister Chyna called me this morning from Las Vegas and said "IT'S SNOWING! AGAIN!" and that the schools in LV had closed today. In my 18 years living in that town, i only recall it snowing twice and I didn't even know what a snow day was. I just flipped on the tv and the national news is showing pictures of The Strip with palm trees covered in snow. Weird. It's like hell freezing over. Now THAT is a novelty and Chyna can tell her kids about the "Winter Storm '08."

It does look like we will be in for bad weather and driving for the next several days but it will warm up before Christmas so no White Christmas this year. Mike played with Winston a little bit out side... Winston LOVES snow and ice and so he was in heaven today.

Kid Brother And Meeeee!

Here's a photo of my little brother Jonathan and I at our PreSchool probably about 1984... i think Jon is about 3 here. I can swear I remember taking this picture, but then again it is one of my favorites so I can't be sure that I am not conjuring this memory from the photo. Thanks for scanning the pic mom. I miss my lunch box. I also miss being bigger than my little brother (he is more than 6 inches taller than me now... but I got him in girth!)

Additionally here are some costumes that my mom sewed when we were kids (in reference to my first post about the Roman Monkey costume).

Me & Jon in our panda and racoon suites; Cousin Terra as Mrs. Santa Claus and me as a snowflake in the Christmas pagent; Me as a Star during the Christmas pagent; cousins Terra, Derrick and me in a rabbit cosutme (this is the first Halloween I actually have memories of)

Bump at 30 Weeks

I know... you're speachless!

Hiccup-o-pot-a-mus

Although I have read that babies can have hiccups in utero, I had totally forgotten about it until someone brought it up late last week. At the suggestion, I began thinking about this funny series of movements I had occasionally been feeling and made a "note to self" to pay attention next time. Well, since last Friday I think this kid has had the hiccups about twice a day every day! I am sure that I am feeling hiccups because they are low in my belly where his head is and they are more or else rhythmic in frequency... the most similar sensation to compare it to is as if I can feel a little heartbeat. Very cool. Not sure if twice a day is more or less than usual so I will ask the doc when I see her on Wednesday.

My kid may be a hiccup-o-pot-a-mus but I feel like a hippopotamus! I'm still not sure how I can possibly get any bigger...

An End to Monkey Business

I wanted to share a picture of the completed Roman Monkey that I blogged about in November. If you click here you will be directed to a photo albulm of all the monkeys that were submitted; in the end they decided that "everyone was a winner" which upsets my competetive side however there were a lot of cute entries. The monkeys were taken to Ronald McDonald House which houses families of extrememly ill children that are being treated at Seattle Children's Hopsital. When they delivered the monkeys, they lined them all up on a large couch to take photos during which time a father without his child happened by. My coworker informs me that the man said he just had to get one for his son at which time he emphatically stated that our Roman Monkey had to be The One. Therefore my competivite side has rationalized that our monkey was clearly the winner. :)