Sunday, May 10, 2015

Bringing Home Baby

We busted Hank out of the hospital on Mothers' Day and 
finally got to bring our sweet little guy home!

BEST.GIFT.EVER. 



Here he's thinking "These fools have no idea what they are doing! Where's my nurse?!"


NICU


Henry's first five days were spent in the NICU treating low blood sugar.

As far as NICU stays go, we had a best case scenario, yet it was still an emotional 
roller coaster. 



The feelings of leaving your baby at the hospital are hard to describe. I felt so helpless 
seeing my tiny baby boy hooked up to so many machines, monitors, and tubes. I felt robbed of 
my chance cuddle and get to know my sweet new baby peacefully in our hospital room. 

Once I was discharged as a patient, we had to leave him there and return 
as visitors during his feeding times. Even though I
 never felt like his life was in critical danger and I didn't really even know how to take 
care of him myself, it was still scary leaving him in the care others. 

This experience allowed Michael to give our son two blessings shortly after he was born - 
first a father's blessing and later a blessing to be healed. After the second blessing
Henry's numbers almost immediately started increasing and he stayed on a steady path of 
improvement until he was released. What a testimony of the power of faith and the priesthood!

One of the hardest things for me was the visitation rules. Because we were only allowed 
to have two people in with him at a time and he needed to rest in order to 
be able to get better and come home, we decided to only have our parents be able to
meet him while he was in the hospital. It ripped my heart out to not have him meet
his aunts and uncles and our close friends right away! One of the things I looked 
forward to the most while I was pregnant was introducing our little bundle to our siblings 
for the first time. It killed me to have to wait for this moment and to not have it as I had 
envisioned. 

Now that we are on the other side of this experience, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
But during those lonely nights in the hospital when I ached to hold my baby
it seemed like one of our hardest trials. But isn't that how it is with most hard things in life?

We did manage to find a bit of humor in seeing our almost ten pound baby next 
to the little preemies. It looked like he could have eaten one of them for lunch! 

We feel so blessed that Henry was a fighter and able to come home after only 5 days. 
Thank heavens, literally, for modern medicine and caring doctors and nurses!









Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Welcome to the World, Baby Woodhead



HENRY MICHAEL WOODHEAD
borm May 5, 2015 1:20am
 9 pounds 12 ounces; 21 inches

This baby boy entered our world and nothing's been the same since.
Everything is much, much better. 

I went in for a doctor appointment on Monday May 4th; because I was a few 
days overdue, they did a non-stress test to make sure the baby was handling 
everything alright. Henry showed some signs of not tolerating his environment well, 
so my doctor decided to induce me and sent me down to labor and delivery.

They started me on pitocin around 9:30am and after a long day of laboring, and 
an hour and a half of pushing, Henry finally made his way into the world at 1:20 
the next morning. Labor and delivery was such an unexpected thrill for me - I loved 
the excitement, sharing the experience with Michael, and feeling so accomplished 
after seeing what my body was capable of. 

A couple of the first things I noticed about my new baby were that he had his dad's 
toes and that he was so alert. He was looking around and taking everything in. 
I specifically remember Michael holding him shortly after he was born, and 
when Henry heard my voice, he picked his head up and moved it to look at me. 

I still can't believe I had an almost 10 pound baby - that was a total shock! 
Thank heavens for epidurals!!


Friday, May 1, 2015

Pregnancy in Pictures

watch my tummy grow!
(along with my buns, and face, etc. etc...) 

22 & 24 weeks

29 & 31 weeks

32 weeks

32 week tummy table & 33 weeks

34 weeks

34 weeks

35 weeks

36 weeks

36 weeks

 37 weeks

38 & 39 weeks

38 week ankles (yikes!!) after working 80 hour weeks during tax busy season


 Michael trying out pregnancy in our birthing class