Happy Birthday, Michael!

Happy 27th birthday to the man who makes our world go 'round! 

BFF

Our little buddy found his own best bud in the mirror and it just cracked us up!

He was very excited at first, but then also just wanted to chill with his pal.  

The Fun Parent

 It's no secret who the fun parent is in our family. I'm completely content with 

my position in second place - watching these two together is a treat!

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!

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!!

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