Archer's Arrival!!!

We are so pleased to introduce Archer Dean Heyen, born Sunday, July 11th at 6:12am. He weighed 6 lbs, 12 oz and was 20 inches long. Archer was born at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA. He had a bit of a rough arrival with an urgent c-section due to a very low heart rate and had the cord wrapped around his neck. Poor guy. But he is truly a trooper and within a few minutes of birth was breathing on his own and fully recovered from the trauma. And he's been doing fine - really more than fine! - since. We spent two days in the hospital and are now home and adjusting to life with two kids. People keep asking where we got his name...well Archer is our take on the Hicks family name of Archibald. Both my Grandfather Hicks and Uncle Cliff were named Archibald (called Arch or Archie). Dean was my dad Don's middle name so we decided to carry on his memory with our son.

Big brother Will was SO excited to meet Archer; when he came to the hospital, one of his first questions was "can I hold him?" So we snuggled in bed while the brothers initiated some brotherly love and bonding. :) It was enough to melt my heart. Will's continued to be curious about Archer; his first question when he got up this morning was "Where's baby Archer?" I'm so glad he's interested in his brother and am trying to manage Will's overeagerness that results in heavy petting and trying to pick his little bro up by the neck. Boys!

As for Keith and I, we are loving our snuggle time with Archer. He is such a mellow baby and is eating and pooping well...the gold standard for infants. At his check-up this morning, Archer has already regained almost all of his birth weight (1 oz shy!) so we're very impressed. After all of Will's feeding and weight gain issues, having a healthy eater in the house is a huge relief. Well technically, I've been a healthy eater all along (more so these past 9 months!) so now I just have company. Keith's a healthy drinker so we're good there too! :)

Keith is going in for his one - and hopefully only! - chemo treatment tomorrow. After his one day in the hospital (home tomorrow night), he'll have to be extra vigilant about germs/infection/etc. for the next 3 weeks and after that, he should be good to go! So keep sending your good thoughts for a healthy chemo and follow-up period. We are ready to put this mess behind us and just focus on our family!

Here are some additional pictures of Archer and Will. We scored the great orange hat and matching blanket from a generous nurse at the hospital. They only had a limited amount but she pulled one out of hiding for Archer. :) Enjoy!