Derek's Baby Blessing

We blessed Derek in church today. What a beautiful blessing! I'm so thankful that I married a worthy priesthood holder. Derek was great and didn't start crying until the very end. My dad, TexAnne and Denise were able to make it up for the blessing but didn't stay long. Miss them already. Our friends from ROTC, Ben Larsen and his wife, Annastasha came! We were so glad to see them come over for Derek's special day. Of course, Mitchell's siblings were present (his brothers helped bless Derek) and Tammy's mom (Cloverne) and sister (Kathy) came. Aunt Kathy brought Katie, one of her daughters. She's so cute! We only stayed for sacrament and then we all went over to Grandma Allred's house for a brunch. What a freaking nightmare! I couldn't get the chicken broccoli casserole made fast enough and felt bad that everyone was waiting and hungry. It was a great get-together though. Thank you so much to everyone who made this day so very special!

I love how everyone is jostling for position

Everyone say, "Family!!"

Missing a set of grandparents, but so glad Jeff, Tammy, my dad and step-mom could make it out!

Finger-sucker already :)

I think he was getting a little cold

Tammy and Derek

Jeff and Derek

Results of Dr's Appointment

Derek had his 2 week well-baby appointment today. He's finally back to birth weight exactly at 7 lbs 9.5 oz, he grew one inch putting him at 21 inches and his head circumference is 35.5 cm. As far as percentiles, he's not very high up there at all: weight is 15th percentile, head circumference is 14th percentile but height is 49th percentile. He checked out as healthy though, which is all I really cared about. Dr Fairbanks did suggest that we switch formula brands because of Derek's gas, so we'll see how that goes. It looks like we're going to have to go entirely on formula pretty soon, so I hope we find one that agrees with him soon. :(

Since Mitch drove us to the appointment (and stayed, too), we went with him to the Det so he could have his meeting with Capt. Roper. Derek met some of the ROTC cadets and we had fun hanging out.

We are slowly starting to get back into society having friends over and being social. :) It's great! I missed being social. Mitch promises that I can go to sacrament meeting this Sunday and then we'll bless Derek the Sunday after and be fully integrated back in. :D YAY! I hope I'm up for all three hours, but we'll see. When we bless him on the 7th, we probably won't stay for the whole three hour block but will leave after sacrament and have a luncheon at Grandma's at 1 pm.

I am so excited for this summer's trip to Tennessee!! It sounds like so much fun! And then we move away from Provo and begin our life in the Air Force! This is going to be the best summer ever!! :D

Derek Video

Mitchell likes to blow raspberries on Derek's tummy and we get a kick out of his reaction every time...

Baby Photo Shoot

Here are updated pics of Derek. There are more on facebook added from the "photo shoot" and Derek-Daddy Bonding Time. He's 2 weeks and 6 days old today! His well-baby appointment with the pediatrician is tomorrow morning, so stay tuned for height/weight measurements.

Derek-Daddy Bonding Time

He loves being cuddled

Babies are conducive to studying

Quiet little boy

Mommy wanted to do a photo shoot...

I love this onesie - it speaks the truth!

Mitchell came home from class right as we were starting the photo shoot, so I let him be a prop. Ha!

Not even 3 weeks old and he can hold his head up really well

Face time with Daddy

Eskimo kisses!

He loves his mommy!

I love this picture - I'm going to have it framed and hung in Derek's room.

I laughed so hard at Derek's face in this picture!

First Visitors!

Derek is only five days old and is such a little celebrity. :) He's had plenty of visits from aunts, uncles, cousins and many of our friends. I only took pictures of one visit though and that was when we found out some spectacular news...

Cousins!

I can't believe Derek will be as big as Isaac in just four short months!

Derek cuddling with Uncle David

Isaac wasn't sure what to do with Derek

We're all smiling because Lanae just shared some wonderful news: She's PREGNANT!! YAY!!

Derek Steven Heath has ARRIVED!!

OK, so he's been here almost a week now, but the sleep/feeding schedule is a bit harder to get down than I thought. He's a great baby though. Derek was born at 12:31 on Tues, Jan 5th at 7 lbs, 9 oz and 20 inches long. Labor was pretty short - he debuted after 7 hrs of labor. Thank goodness it was short though because my epidural didn't work. Only my right thigh was numb. :S My stepmom, her sister (Lori), my mom and my sister (Kelly) came out to help me for a little bit. Everyone was super nice and very patient with me during delivery.

Ready to go!

My mom and sister thought some of the things I said were pretty funny... Dr. Weibell tried to help numb some of the pain by giving me three shots of local anesthetic and said I wouldn't feel them. I felt all three and let him know... "I felt that!... I felt that one, too!" I also had to get two episiotomies and, while Dr Weibell was stitching me up, I felt some of the needle pokes (OUCH!!). I started asking how many stitches I had and if he was done yet. This prompted a story about stitching up his 7-yr-old son's busted forehead (WHAT?! So NOT a comparable situation!) who asked the same thing... "Are you done yet?... Now?... (and when I was just sick and tired of being poked, but still had a few more stitches to go...) Ok, you're done."

I can't describe how awesome it was to finally hold him! He'd been kicking and poking and messing with me for the past 4 months, but once I had him in my arms I really didn't care. I was so glad he finally was here! I didn't get to hold him very long because he was having some breathing problems, but I was glad for the time I had. The nurses drugged me up pretty good and I was out like a light, so I didn't notice that he was gone.

First family photo!!

Derek's bilirubin levels have been pretty high, so he had to go onto a UV bed with a UV wand attached to his little chest. He looks like a little extra-terrestrial baby with the blue light behind him, haha! He has to stay on it as much as possible so we only take him off to feed and change his diaper. He's so good about it though. He's finally getting the idea that gas hurts if you hold onto it, so he just whimpers a little and goes TOOT! Haha! I'm hopeful he'll be able to be off the light in a couple more days, but we'll have to see how his levels are tomorrow morning at the dr's office. Here are some photos from just after he was delivered and some that are a bit more recent...

Right after he was cleaned up and handed back to Momma

Cousins meet for the first time

First bath... not a happy camper

All cleaned and with spiked hair! Wrong date (2010, not 2009), but that's ok

E.T. Baby!!! This is the UV bed he sleeps on for the jaundice

Doesn't look 4 days old, does he? His hair is starting to get lighter already...

Welcome Home Derek!

Welcome home sweet boy! Nana and Aunt Bella drove us home - Mitchell had class but he hurried home as soon as he could.

Little mustard boy - his jaundice is getting pretty bad.

"Ok, I'm done with this carseat and your stupid camera flash!"

Sweet little special delivery. :)

Last Week of Pregnancy!

When these pictures were taken, I had no idea that I would only be pregnant for three more days! 38 weeks and 5 days.

8 months Preggo

Last month!!

 There was a lot of movement in this one...

 Hurry up, Derek!

I know why they call it a beach ball now. :)

New Doctor

Well, Dr. Judd wasn't really floatin' my boat, so I took Liz's advice and switched to Dr. Weibel (pronounced WEE-bul). I was a bit nervous and asked Mitch to come with me, just to get a second opinion. Not impressed at first - Dr. Weibel was an hour late! He wasn't even in the office when my appt was supposed to take place! I was just about to just be seen by whoever was available, but Dr. Weibel walked in. I must admit though, he put me quite at ease when he first came in the room and I really liked that. Mitch liked the fact that he didn't take 5 minutes to answer a question. He was really quick and was quick to put me at ease concerning the kidney problem - he's really optimistic that it will resolve itself after birth and doesn't think I'll have to deliver early via c-section. WHEW!! The final word will be made later this month, but it's nice to know that this Dr. is more optimistic. Dr. Judd didn't even know what I was talking about when I asked him questions about Derek's kidneys at my last visit.