Easter Pics

Happy Easter

Hello friends & family! Warm wishes of a Happy Easter from Cedar City, Utah! James & I have had a wonderful Easter weekend! James' dad arrived on Thursday night from St. Louis & spent the whole weekend with us. We had a great time visiting with him & taking him to Kanab and St. George on Friday. And DJ loved spending time with his Grandpa West. We even took DJ to see the Easter Bunny for his very first Easter!

We began our beautiful Easter Sunday by watching the morning sunrise. What a great reminder of the fact that our Savior is risen also. What a blessing to know of the Resurrection of our Savior. After the sun had risen, James & I made my family's traditional Easter breakfast... Golden Rod Eggs. (Or Gold Rotten Eggs, as we called them when we were little.) We then enjoyed a late morning nap before attending our 1pm Sacrament Meeting. It was nice to sit in church as a family and listen to the words of our Heavenly Father. Such a great way to spend our Sabbath Day.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well! Enjoy the latest pics of our growing family. :)

Hooray!

I am very happy to report that DJ no longer has to be "under the lights" for his jaundice. He still has a low level of jaundice, but we were able to take him off the lights on Thursday. It was so nice to be able to hold our baby again. James & I celebrated by taking him for his very first walk. He slept right through it, but we know he enjoyed it. :)

Our Poor Baby

For those of you that don't know, our little David has jaundice. :( His levels started out pretty low, but when he had trouble eating this weekend, they jumped. We got the unfortunate news yesterday that his levels were high enough to require light treatment. So Praxair showed up last night and set up a baby-sized tanning bed in our crib. The doctor said for him to be in the bed at all times unless he's feeding. It was pretty heartbreaking last night to not be able to hold our little boy. We went back to the doctor today to find that his levels have dropped back down, but they want us to keep him under the lights for another night, just to be safe. Bummer. Hopefully just one more day and he'll be clear. In the meantime, we'll just hold the hand of our "Joe Cool" baby boy.

My Visitors

My First Visitors

Dear Family:

Thank you for coming to visit me in the hospital and on my first day at home. I am so excited to be part of such a wonderful family. I have already met 3 grandparents, aunts and uncles and lots of cousins. I feel so loved already! My mommy and daddy know that most of you had to travel a while to see me, and they appreciate it. Thanks again. I look forward to meeting many more of you.

Love-
DJ

To my son

My Dearest David,

I wanted to write this to you while the amazing details of your birth are still vivid in my mind. After 38 weeks of awaiting your arrival, you dramatically graced us with your presence. After 3 days of my doctor concerned about some bleeding I was having, she called our home at 7pm on Thursday, March 6th, 2008. She had discussed our situation with the other doctors and decided to induce my labor to make sure you arrived safely. She gave us the option of coming in at 1am the next day, or asap. Your daddy and I decided to go to the hospital early. So, at 8pm, I walked into the Labor & Delivery department of the Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City, Utah, along with Daddy and Grandma Vicki. After doing all the necessary paperwork and yucky girl stuff with the nurse, my wonderful doctor, Laurie Hansen arrived about 9:30pm. I was having contractions on my own, but wanted to progress my labor quicker. As far as we could tell at that point, you were doing fine. Your heart rate was normal and I could still feel you kicking all around inside of me. To aid in speeding up my labor, Laurie broke my water. At first, it seemed to have gone perfectly. After only a few minutes, I began to bleed more and your heart rate dropped drastically, sending everyone into high alert mode. They had me move into every position thinkable to get your heart rate to return to normal. It would for a minute or so, then it would drop right back down, usually while I was having a contraction. Daddy held my hand and kept reminding me to take deep breaths for you. He kept me very calm. After monitoring your drastically changing heart rate for just about 30 minutes or so, they called the rest of the staff together and decided to opt for an emergency c-section. Daddy and I trusted the decision of the wonderful staff and knew they would do whatever was best for you. By 11:10pm, I was being rolled into the Operating Room with Daddy close behind. The surgery went very quickly and you entered this world at 11:32pm. I heard your first cry and I immediately cried as well. Daddy got to see you and hold you first. Before we parted ways, mine to the recovery room and yours to the nursery, Daddy brought you over to see me. You were so beautiful! You have perfect little lips like your daddy and little fuzz pretending to be hair on your head. I didn't get to join you and Daddy in the nursery for your measurements, first bath or diaper, but I finally got to hold you when we met up in my hospital room around 12:30am. I will never forget that moment. I held you in my arms and you looked up at me like we were just being re-introduced. Every time I spoke you would stare at me and I couldn't help but stare back. What a blessing you are already to our family. So many things could have gone wrong while bringing you into this world, but the Lord brought you safely to us. He gave our doctors the intuition to induce me 2 weeks early and he gave me the strength to do exactly what they said, no matter how scary or painful it was. Always listen to the Lord, son. He will continually guide you in every aspect of life.

I love you. Thank you for choosing me to be your mother! I look forward to many cherished moments with you as my son. Daddy & I will do our very best to be great parents, but go easy on us... we're new at this. Always remember that we love you!

Love Always & Forever,

Mommy

DAVID JAMES WEST

Born: 11:32pm March 6th, 2008
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
Length: 19 1/2 inches

Keri is doing great!! And so is David!

Baby Update

Hello all. I just thought I'd share with you the updated situation with the baby & I. On Sunday evening, I began having contractions. They were coming 10 minutes apart, so we tried to stay busy until they got closer together. Well, they didn't. I went to bed and they pretty much stopped. Monday morning while I was at work, they started up again. They still weren't super close, but I decided to stop by the hospital just to be checked. I spent 4 hours in the Labor & Delivery department being monitored. Boring! By the time they let me leave, my contractions were coming every 2 1/2 minutes and were lasting about 45 seconds each. They also checked me to find that I was a dilated a "solid 3", but was still "very thick". (Sorry if the details are a bit too much for some of you, but others have requested details.) However, because I was only 37 1/2 weeks along, my doctor was hesitant to let me progress into labor that soon. So, they gave me medicine to relax my uterus and help stop the contractions. It worked. I went home Monday night and slept pretty much until my doctor's appointment at 8am the next morning. At my appointment, my doctor checked me again and said I was 3+ and am now 60% effaced. She thinks the odds of me going this week are pretty high. They also had me get an ultrasound yesterday, just to make sure everything looks good before delivery. And he looks great! I do have another appointment tomorrow morning and we'll see how that goes. I will officially be 38 weeks tomorrow, so she may strip my membranes to really move along the labor. Mainly because my body is trying to do it on it's own, it may just need an extra push. And delivering at 38 weeks is better than 37 1/2.

So, that is my update. I've still been having contractions off and on since yesterday, but they aren't getting worse or staying in an actual pattern. So, chances are, I'm not going to do anything without a little push from the doctor. We'll keep you all updated. Love to all!

The Exciting Month of MARCH!!

Many of you already know that Keri and I are expecting our First Born this month. Of which I am very excited!! To have a child is a very exciting feat, but to have that first child be a boy is even more exciting and special. David James West will become a very important and special part of our family and I am very proud to have the chance of being a father.

Now on to something alittle less serious. Some of you may know about my little obsesion with alittle TV series/Movie know as Stargate not to be confussed with Star Trek.
Well this month marks the release of the first, of a future series of direct to DVD Stargate SG-1 Movies. This first installment has been titled The Ark of Truth, this movie will conclude the epic story line about the Ori, that was taking place in the last few seasons of the acclaimed Stargate series SG-1. For us "Gaters" this movie is a very important milestone and an exciting step to making stargate into somthing big. I have already ordered my copy of the movie, which is due for release on March 11th. I look forward to watching the movie in the hospital while holding my newborn son and Keri is Resting!!

Here are a few clips for your enjoyment: