Hospital Photo

We had a newborn photo taken at the hospital about 24 hours after Zach was born. We had the same photo taken for Helaina, so we couldn't resist doing the same for him.

The days are busy, but time is passing quickly as I knew it would. Randy has been in California since Wednesday with the team for the playoffs and won't return until sometime Monday. Since he's been gone, Amo and Auntie (Randy's parents) have been with us during the days, and Auntie has been sleeping over at night to help. Zach seems to be settling in to his new life at home, and Helaina is adjusting better than I had anticipated.

Happy Easter

Christ has Risen! Indeed He has Risen!

Our family is so thankful for all of our Easter blessings! Unfortunately, we didn't make it to any of the Easter church services, mainly because of the new baby. We are already looking forward to next year and the joy of having our family celebrate the Easter holiday together.

Today we had newborn photos taken for Zachary. Our photographer came to the house, which made for a much easier session. A few of our favorites...

Helaina showcasing her candy from the Easter Egg Hunt we attended on Saturday. This girl has the biggest sweet tooth!!! We literally have to hide the candy during her naps or bedtimes in hopes that she'll forget about it.

Easter photo...our new family of 4!

My parents left to head back home today. We definitely enjoyed having them here to help and enjoy our new family. Thankfully, we live so close to Randy's family, and they spoil us daily!!! Help is always just around the corner.

The unfortunate news...we took Zachary to the pediatrician, and our hunch was correct. He has acid reflux. We'll try to manage without medication for awhile, and they'll evaluate him at his 2 week visit on Monday.

The GOOD news...our "not so little man" weighed in at 9 lbs 3 oz today!!! He is growing like a weed, and we couldn't be happier about it!

Easter Bunny Picture

Even though we are all trying to adjust to a new routine, we have tried to make time for a variety of activities to keep Helaina entertained and to celebrate the upcoming Easter holiday.

Yesterday we decorated Easter eggs. We managed not to break any of the eggs until after they had been boiled...still messy, but nothing like breaking a raw egg. We're still working on what "gentle" means.

Helaina, again, working on the meaning of "pushing softly." If it were up to her, she'd have Zach doing somersaults across the living room.

Sharing her "blankie" with her little brother

We attempted the picture with the Easter Bunny and were successful! I couldn't believe it, considering our last experience with Santa. She walked right up to him, said hi, shook his hand, and told him she'd like "chocolate" in her Easter basket.

Zachary's Ped's Visit

Hello world! We have been home since Sunday afternoon, and are happy to report that we are adjusting well. I have to first start by saying how grateful we are for the amount of help and love that our family and friends have shown us through this amazing journey. Not only do we enjoy sharing this experience with our loved ones, but the help has been tremendous and that gives Randy and I the ability to treasure these special moments a little more!!!

Zachary's going home picture

Helaina reading to her little brother

Mommy taking snap shots while he's sleeping peacefully
Today was Zach's first visit at the pediatrician. He weighed in at 8lbs 6 oz which is actually up from when we left the hospital on Sunday...a very good stat considering most babies are still loosing a little weight at this point. The past few days have been rather uneventful, just enjoying time at home with Helaina and Zach. Helaina is taking to him well...being a good helper and asking about him frequently. For the most part, Zach is nursing well, becoming more alert, and sleeping for a few hours at a time. Our house is full of joy!

His Name

Our baby boy has a name, Zachary Bishara Freij!

Baby BOY Freij is HERE!

Randy and I are proud to announce the arrival of our healthy and handsome baby BOY! He was born at 4:59 am, weighing in at 8 lbs 11 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Randy and I will decide on his name sometime today, and will be sure to keep you all updated.

Moments after birth

Kisses from the big sister!




Baby boy Freij also has quite the birth story to share when he gets older! My parents came into town yesterday (Friday) to spend some extra time with us and Helaina before the induction on Monday. Randy and I were able to head out last night after Helaina went to bed and enjoyed a couple hours of alone time eating ice cream and shopping at Meijer.

Shortly after 3 am this morning, I got up to use the bathroom and had a rather painful contraction. I had a sneaking suspicion that "this" was the real thing. Within 45 minutes, the contractions were coming about 3-4 minutes apart and were rather uncomfortable. Randy and I left our house shortly after 4 am for the hospital. By the time I was seated in the bed in the hospital room around 4:30 am, the contractions were beyond tolerable, and I was requesting an epidural. The nurse did her first check at 4:35 am, and to our astonishment, I was 10 cm dilated and there was no time for anything but to call the doctor in to deliver the baby. Without an epidural, or an IV, or my doctor present (the on call doctor was there), we delivered our beautiful baby just moments later! Never what I had envisioned for the birth of this baby, but God sure had enormous blessings for us today!

THANK YOU for all of your kind words and support!

Ready to Meet You

As I sit here writing this, we are beyond ready to meet this precious little baby. I don't remember being as impatient when we were overdue and waiting for Miss Helaina to arrive. Maybe it's because this is our second and that in itself changes the whole dynamic of the situation, or maybe it's because I stopped working about 10 days ago and my mind has much more time to think about the upcoming events. Either way, Baby Freij if you're listening, feel free to enter this world any moment now!

So today was my final doctor appointment. To my surprise, I haven't changed at all in the last week. They did the non-stress test with fetal heart rate monitoring and thankfully, baby is still doing well. During the test, I was having contractions about every 5 minutes, but none of them painful, and they soon subsided. Doctor was hoping to see the baby's head engaged in my pelvis more than it was today, so he elected to postpone induction till Monday morning at 6:30 am. For those of you following our blog, it's safe to say that Baby Freij will be with us no later than Monday, April 18th. Thank you for all your kind words and prayers!

Last belly picture, almost 41 weeks

Our little energizer bunny...she is into EVERYTHING these days!