Homecoming

Wow...this is my first time on here since Saturday morning and I am a bit overwhelmed. You all have no idea what a blessing you were to me throughout my [LONG] day of labor and all of the wonderful and overwhelming moments since. Dan would periodically read me the comments that kept coming throughout the day, and I was just blown away by your support & encouragement. More than anything, I can't say I have ever sensed so many prayers!! You prayed me and Caroline right through all of it and I am incredibly grateful. Who knew what a great tool this little blog would be? :-)

Coming home has been a fairly easy transition thanks in large part to my Mom. She had a wonderful dinner ready for us when we arrived last night around 7:00. Caroline did great in her new bed and only woke mom & dad up a few times to feed. I'm feeling better each day, though still tired and of course a bit sore. I'm definitely taking advantage of the time Mom is here to rest up as much as possible. Dad

Anyway, you probably care more about seeing pictures than anything right now so I'm here to accomodate! These aren't nearly as good as Kelsey's, but I'll do what I can :-) Before Caroline calls again, let me get a few of these up. I'll keep them coming!

Not great - but our first family photo:

Daddy admiring his new daughter.

Some of her first visitors:

Jason & Jessica Crooks - our wonderful neighbors & friends.

The Williams family - dear friends from church. Laurie is expecting later this week!

Amy & Angilee - good friends from GMA.

Abby finally getting to meet Caroline - she waited all day on Saturday and fell asleep just before she arrived.

Snuggling with Daddy just before going to bed for the first time at home.

The AMAZING rocking chair my Grandpa AJ made for us!

Good night sweet girl - we love you!
Some more adoring fans - Spencer & Lauren (friends from church).

Daddy is a pretty big fan.

Celebrating Day One

Guest blogger: Aunt Kelsey

In less than an hour it will officially be 24 hours for the life of sweet Caroline. It's been a big day. Some highlights have included:

- successful feedings
- successful filled diapers
- she even raised her head!
- photo shoots with some pretty bows
- Payton Manning on T.V.
- Some visitors
- and plenty of loving from Grandma and Grandpa

Kali and Dan wanted me to let you know that it's been a really great day, everything is going really well, and they are most likely going to be able to go back home tomorrow.

I posted quite a few new pictures on my blog: www.kelseylynae.blogspot.com She's a pretty good model.

Pictures of Caroline's first night

Kelsey (Kali's sister) posted some pictures on her blog of some of Caroline's first moments last night.

www.kelseylynae.blogspot.com

We're all doing well today. More later.

good morning world!

All is going well. more to come soon! Caroline is great!

Caroline Harper Johnston!!!

Here She Is!!!

Just waiting. At a nine and fully effaced. Kali is getting tired, but feeling up to pushing. She is starting to have the urges to push.

Lord grant my wife continued progression and we do beg for you to allow this baby to come soon! AMEN!

Thank you all. Next post is going to have pictures of my daughter!!

By His Hand

Dan

oxytocin...such a strange word when you look at it. well it has come to that. we have stalled a bit at 8 cm and nearly 90% effacement. kali is being such a trooper...putting up with a bunch of measurements and testing. they just started a drip of oxytocin to get the contractions stronger and see if we can get some progression. the doc mentioned C-section and kali got a bit scared...if you all could be praying for everything to progress so we can do this thing soon that would rock. pray for peace and the Lord's hand to just allow kal to relax and lay her concerns and fears in His arms.

thanks again for the comments and prayers. love having you all right along. id post pics, but i can hardly type...just aint my thing. :-)

by grace
coach d

No baby yet. She is at an EIGHT! Moving right along. The Doc says all is a go. She can come at her own time! We just cannot wait to see our little daughter.
Currently we have Sharon and Kelsey here. Sharon is massaging Kali's feet and Kelsey is trying to guess the name of our daughter...she is so off...She is thinking names like Kelsey Jr. or Lynae or Gertrude. Anyway...
Keep the prayers up. We appreciate the comments on the Blog and it helps to keep Kali's mind occupied. She just really isnt into football today!

Im well. It is becoming more real by the minute. I just cannot wait to see my daughter!

Blessings.

Dan

Drugs are good. Kali is now much more relaxed after her epidural. She is able to rest and she may be falling asleep as I type.
Currently she is dilated to a 5 and has a few more hours to go before they will begin a drip of medication that will inc her labor.
Thanks for checking in. We will let you know more later.
Ps. Im wearing out :-)

Progression

Still going strong. Kali is now on to the 4-5 cm range. Her Doc is very pleased with the progression and how she is handling it. Im so proud of her too...she is being such a trooper and good sport about this. We just cannot wait to see our beautiful daughter! It seems so surreal right now...like a dream, except with a bit of pain...well a lot of pain.

We are doing well. Thanks for all the prayers. Kali has such peace about everything and is remaining very relaxed.

Ps. this is her "coach" my new official title!

Hey Ya'll, so yeah, we are in labor and Kali just measured at a 3! Things are moving along and she is being so tough.
Please keep us in your prayers. As time allows Ill try to update every so often.
ps. this is Dan

Change of Plans

So....I'm in labor!! Just thought I'd give the quick update so you all can be praying. My water broke at 2:00am this morning, so we grabbed our bags & headed in to the hospital. What an answer to prayer - she's decided to come on her own! At this point (about 6:45am) my contractions are certainly getting stronger, though they haven't checked my progress since I checked in (still just 1-2 cm dilated & about 70% effaced).

My parents & sister are on their way, and so is our baby girl! Perfect timing :) Thanks for your prayers!

Almost There

You guys don't know how much it means to know how many people are thinking about us and praying for us right now. Thank you for all of the encouraging comments, phone calls, etc. We feel so loved :)

We're still hanging out, just waiting on Baby J to make up her mind as to whether or not she's going to come on her own or wait for a little encouragement. I've had more contractions, but at this point I'm not making any predictions! Please continue to pray that we won't make it to the induction...but either way, I truly am at peace that it's all in God's very capable hands at this point.

One really great thing about her late arrival is that my parents are going to be able to be here for the birth! They are on their way to St. Louis tonight and will arrive sometime tomorrow, along with my sister & her husband (yay!). We are very grateful that they'll all be here for this special time - something we didn't think would be able to happen given the distance. Once again, God knows what He's doing!

Dan just got home and we're about to enjoy our last evening as truly just the two of us, so I'm going to turn this off and put the phone down for awhile. I'll try and check back in tomorrow, but at this point we're guessing it will be Sunday. We'll keep you in the loop!

40 Weeks

Last night Dan decided we needed to "celebrate" our due date, and get our minds off the fact that nothing was happening. So we headed to Pei Wei for some yummy Chinese and enjoyed a nice evening out. Of course, nothing compares to the Szechuan Inn in Orange City (or the college student discount we used to get there), but this certainly worked :)

My fortune...quite fitting! (Endurance & persistance will be rewarded)

We also hit the neighboring Maggie Moo's for dessert to finish off the celebration. All in all it was a lovely evening, even if we had no little one to join us. I even rather enjoyed answering people when they asked, "So, when are you due?"

A few pictures of my current state for the curious (sorry Mom...more belly exposure. It just gives the full effect!):

Expiration Date

Yep, today is my official due date - September 23. The date we've been working towards since we found out about this little peanut way back in January. And still no baby, which I'm trying not to be too disappointed about. As Stacy pointed out in her comment on my last post, I'm not exactly known for being on-time (note of interest: I was actually born on my due date...which was probably the last time I was on-time!). And I've known all along that most 1st babies come late, so I'm not entirely surprised. I just thought all of the "activity" this weekend might have sped things up.

I did go to the Doctor this morning and wanted to give you all the update (I'm just warning you - don't get too excited). Since I am officially 40 weeks now, they hooked me up to a monitor to check the baby's heart rate & movements. The first 15 minutes she squirmed all over the place, even moving the monitors that were strapped across my belly at one point. But when the nurse came in to check on me, she realized she hadn't turned the printer on, so I had to go for another 20 minutes. Apparently she went to sleep during that time, so I had to drink some Sprite & get prodded a few times to try and wake her up - and was monitored for another 15-20 minutes. Thankfully my Doctor could see enough movements on the printout by that point, so the nurse finally unhooked me and I went on to the regular check-up.

She measured me & checked my cervix - still at a 1.5 :( I was really hoping all of these contractions would have moved something along, but no such luck. My measurements seemed a bit different which my Doctor attributed to her having dropped more, but she decided to check my fluids with an ultrasound just to be sure. Everything looked good and I go the okay to keep waiting.

At this point, I'm still scheduled for the induction to begin Sunday at 7:00pm. My Dr. told me I'm not allowed to eat anything after 11am that day...and that the goal will be for me to deliver sometime before midnight on Monday. Seriously?! Even if that is the goal, I think she could have just left it at "sometime Monday" and we both would have been fine. Geesh.

Anyway, this is getting long. Sorry for so many details when there really weren't any updates! Thanks for all of your words of encouragement lately - they mean so very much to me. Who knew that blogging would be such a blessing for me? We feel your prayers and ask that you would continue to pray these next days as we wait. I'm still praying that I will go into labor naturally. Either way, Baby J will be joining us very soon!

No News

No news here...I'm still pregnant :) I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so I will try and get an update posted in the afternoon. In the meantime, I'm just trying to get my brain to shut off so I can get a little sleep...

Waiting On the World to Change

Not a great picture, but this is what I'm doing right now...enjoying the seasonal favorite Pumpkin Spice Latte at the Starbucks down the road and working on a mailing list for birth announcements. I'm about to go crazy just sitting at home and have cleaned everything I can think of at least twice (ok, maybe not quite...but that whole "nesting" thing has certainly been in overdrive). At Dan's suggestion, I packed up the laptop and headed down the road - and this is so much better! I like when he makes suggestions like this :-)

I wish I had more to update, but we're still just waiting. Yesterday I thought I was actally making some real progress as I had contractions all day that were fairly consistent at about 15-20 minutes apart. Then last night, they seemed to pick up for awhile and were exactly 10 minutes apart for over an hour from about 12:00-1:00am. Then I dosed off and they tapered off, and I was able to sleep through the night. Maybe she needs me to be conscious for this part or something? Who knows. Dan was a little disappointed to have to go to work this morning, but at least he'll get to see Payton Manning play tonight...that's really what I've been holding out for ;-)

I feel like my emotions have been all over the place these past few days with all of this. I fluctuate from excited to terrified to frustrated and everything in between. But in all of it, I KNOW God is with me and I'm praying for lots of peace & patience to get us through these next few days. I'm so ready to finally hold my baby girl, to see her sweet little face and fingers & toes (instead of just feeling them), and I can't wait for Dan to finally get to meet his daughter. And I can't wait to share her with all of you, my family & friends!

This morning I read a passage in Matthew where Jesus talks about his second coming. He tells us to always be ready and waiting, making sure all of the necessary preparations are in place. It made me think about this time of waiting in our lives - these last days & weeks, but also the last 9 months as we have prepared for our daughter. We've worked hard to make sure everything is in place and ready for her arrival, sparing nothing.

I had to ask myself if I do the same to ready myself for the arrival of my King, and if I'm honest with myself I know the answer is no. It somehow doesn't feel as urgent - I tell myself I have plenty of time to talk to that neighbor or spend more time in the Word. But this morning God gently reminded me that we should take just as many pains (and really more) to make sure that we're ready at any moment for our Savior to return and carry us home. Just as I haven't wanted to be caught off guard at the first pains of labor and our daughter's arrival, so should I remain vigilant as I wait for Christ. What a sweet day that will be when he comes to take us home forever!

Just some random thoughts for the day. Thanks for listening :) Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my latte.

False Start

Sorry for the lack of update...I know some of you are possibly checking this more frequently now with my current state being as it is. As the title suggests, we did have a bit of excitement yeseterday. Around 3:00 I was in Target and suddenly began feeling what I am assuming were some "real" contractions (as opposed to the Braxton Hicks I've been experiencing for some time now). They were painful enough that I had to stop and catch my breath, so I decided I should probably finish up my shopping and head home. They were very inconsistent at this point, however, and once I sat down they slowed way down.

I went over to my neighbor's for a bit while I waited for Dan to get home, and they seemed to be coming at about 15 minute intervals at that point. I started to get excited - and scared - and Dan & I sat and timed them for a bit before we decided what our plans for the evening would be. They were never consistent enough to warrant just sitting around, and we decided walking may be a good thing for me. So we stuck our bags in the car (just in case) and headed out to do some shopping (since it was raining). While we were at Old Navy, they got down to about 5 mintes apart for about 30 minutes At that point, Dan got a bit concerned, but they just didn't hurt enought for me to think that was really it. So after sitting down for awhile at Cracker Barrell, they slowed way back down (back to 20-30 minutes). We came home, watched a movie, and they continued very sparatically throughout the night until we finally just went to bed.

I think we both kind of expected to wake up in the night with things really moving along, but that never happened. Today I've only had a few contractions, regardless of LOTS of walking. I have had a lot more crampy back-pain, so I'm hoping I'm not going to experience a great deal of "back labor," but I guess we'll see.

So there you have it - a bit of false labor I suppose. But regardless of what it was, I know something is happening and we're getting closer to meeting our daughter every day. And that makes me quite excited! I'll keep you all posted!

P.S. Sorry no one got a phone call (including our parents)...we just didn't want to alert the media when we were never fully convinced that anything was really happening.

Louis L'amour & a Quick Recipe

I know - 2 posts in one day?! So I'm getting a little stir crazy with all of this waiting. Please bear (bare? which one?) with me.

Yesterday I stopped at the library to drop off a couple of books and decided to pick up a few for Dan. He had requested some "mindless" books recently (i.e. fiction, which he doesn't read very often), and since he has read and re-read every Louis L'amour book on our bookshelf I decided that would be a good pick. I brought home 5 last night, and from 8:30 until almost 1:00am, this is what he did:

1 book down...4 to go. I'd say the poor guy needed a break from the medical books he's been pouring over lately!

On to random musing number 2: I made some of my favorite soup last night. It was a very rainy day here (and is again today) and I just felt like making soup, so I grabbed my stack of recipes and landed on this - a Mexican soup that is basically a combo of about 3 different recipes I've made in the past. I think I shall call it Fiesta Tortilla Chicken Lime Soup (at least that's what I get when I combine all the names from the original recipes):

Fiesta Tortilla Chicken Lime Soup:

1/4 Cup Italian Dressing
3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 small onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 each of 1 Red & 1 Green pepper
1 can stewed tomatoes (Mexican flavored)
1 Can chicken broth
1 1/4 Cup water
3/4 Cup frozen corn (or 1 can)
1 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbl. chopped cilantro
2-4 Tbl. lime juice (this is a pretty strong flavor, so start small)
Mexican style shredded cheese
Sour Cream
Tortilla Chips

Heat dressing in large saucepan on med-high heat. Add chicken, onions, garlic & peppers and cook for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth, water, corn and chili powder, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 8 min. or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender. Add lime juice & cilantro to taste. Ladle the soup into 4 ovenproof bowls, top with cheese, then place under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream & crushed tortillas chips as garnish (and extra cilantro if you'd like).

This is also really good if you shred the chicken rather than chopping it...but that also takes a lot more time and work. I'm all about efficiency :) The best part about this is that you really can make it start to finish in about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

One more random note: The season premier of The Office is tonight! I can hardly contain my excitement :) I'm hoping baby J holds off long enough (and guessing that won't be a problem)!

Doctor's Update

I had another appointment yesterday afternoon, so I thought I'd keep you all updated. I have not dilated any further - still at a 1.5 (kind of disappointing), but she did say the baby seems to have dropped even further. She really won't make any kind of predictions, but she did guess that the baby is around 7-7.5 pounds at this point (no ultrasound, that was just buy her measurements and educated guess).

The big news was that she scheduled me for an induction on the 27th if little Miss hasn't decided to join us by that point. They'll induce me that evening around 7pm, so I could expect to deliver sometime Monday morning. I was a bit freaked out when she told me this (the end is definitely in sight!), but also relieved (again...the end is in sight). We'll see if we make it that far!

39 Weeks

Pampering

Thank you, my blogging friends, for helping ease my mind about my water breaking. I loved the stories :) What would I do without you all?


At my Mom's urging, I decided to spoil myself yesterday and went and had a pedicure. It was so relaxing, and now I won't have to look at my ugly chipped toenails while I'm in labor (like that's really what I'm going to be worried about, right?). Plus, I went to a local beauty college and only paid $15 instead of full price! Great idea, Mom!

Not much to update beyond that. I have another doctor's appointment this afternoon, so we'll see if I've made any progress this week. Either way, we're a week closer to meeting our baby girl!

A new fear

Not a lot to update today. Dan & I had a good, if slightly busy weekend. Saturday we had a community group leader's training meeting at church in the morning, then I went to a shower for a friend in the afternoon, and we finished off the day with church (we have the option of a Saturday night service at our church, so we decided to check it out. Kinda weird to not going on Sunday, but it's a nice option anyway). Sunday morning we went for a walk at one of our favorite parks called Radnor Lake. It has beautiful hiking trails that loop around a lake (duh), and I was quite proud to make it all the way around the 2 mile loop! Then our dear friends from our community group threw us a shower last night which was wonderful - we've been so blessed by so many people giving us showers & gifts to get ready for this baby. Thank you guys - you've been more than generous, and I think she's all set!

So, the last few days a new fear has settled into the back of my mind, taunting me wherever I go. Now, before I confess this, I realize it's something completely out of my control and that it really doesn't happen all that often and that when it does happen, it's not like it is "in the movies". But still...it haunts me. Here it is:

What if my water breaks in public?!?

Or in any other inconvenient location for that matter (like my nice couch where I spend a good deal of time these days...)?

Will it stink? Will it stain? Will a crowd gather to watch me slink away as I go get the manager for a clean-up on aisle 12? What if it ruins my mattress?

I'm considering some Depends. And a water-proof mattress pad for my bed & couch. (And I'm only mostly kidding.)

Anyone have any stories to share? Suggestions? I really don't think you can freak me out much more than I already am, so please - bring it on.

A few pictures

I'm a little behind in getting some of these up here, but thought I'd go ahead and post them anyway. Dan & I had a wonderful 3-day weekend over Labor Day, enjoying as much time together as possible before Baby J. We hung out with some friends, roamed around one of the cool little towns just down the road, got some stuff DONE, & enjoyed plenty of time to just rest. It was just what we needed!

One of our accomplishments - our bags our packed & ready for the hospital!

A fabulous way to rest - enjoying books and a little coffee on our front porch in our wonderful rocking chairs from Grandpa A.J.

A treasure we found at an Antique store in Nolensville while we were roaming. It has some nice little shelves inside that I'm hoping will be helpful in storing toys & books down the road.

And here you go - belly pictures for week 38!

Quick Update

I had another doctor's appointment today and found out that i am dilated to a "1-something" in her exact words. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that - since I know one can be dilated for sometime before actually going into labor. However, progress is progress! So I guess I'll take it at that.

I still don't feel desperate to have this baby, but I do feel a lot closer to "ready" than I did last week. It's funny to me, though, how many people make comments to me like "you must be SO ready!" and then proeed to give me tips on how to try and induce labor. At this point I am of the opinion that she'll come when's she's ready, and as my Aunt Linda said, the longer she's in there the cuter she'll be :-) Give me couple more weeks and I may not feel that way, but at this point...I'm doing just fine. If she's comes tomorrow, we'll be ready to go, but if she decides to wait that just gives us a bit more time to prepare.

That's all for tonight - I'll write more soon. I'll really try and keep you all posted as I get ever closer to meeting baby J!

'Tis So Sweet

It's late. I have already been in bed for a couple of hours and just can't seem to find sleep, so I thought I'd get out some of the thoughts rolling around in this seemingly tireless brain of mine. I already made another list of "to-do's" before baby J arrives, but I thought I'd spare you from the frivolous details I seem to get hung-up on. You're welcome.

Instead, I seek the only true Peace I know tonight. The Peace that passes all understanding and is always waiting for me - if only I would remember to ask for it. I try so hard to be "anxious for nothing," but I often forget the rest of that familiar verse that goes on to say, "but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the God of PEACE, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7) .

I was reminded of this same peace as well as the strength offered only through God during our worship time at church this morning. I can't quite put into words all that God reminded me of, but it was a powerful and rather emotional service for me (go figure...the emotions are in overdrive at this point). The first song we sang reminded me that God's strength never fails, even when I feel weak & weary. Here are a few of the lyrics (taken from Isaiah 40):

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

We will wait upon the Lord,

we will wait upon the Lord.

Our God - You reign forever

Our hope - our strong deliverer

You are the everlasting God

You do not faint

You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak

You comfort those in need

You lift us up on wings like eagles

There was a little white-haired lady sitting in front of me who made me think instantly of my Grandma Schoon, and as the lady standing next to her (who I presumed to be her daughter) bent down and took her hand, the tears stung my eyes. I was reminded of the generations of faith that I have blessed with - the rich legacy which I hope to now pass on to my own daughter. The tears flowed freely as the familiar hymn began to play, and I could only bow my head and listen to the words:

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to take Him at His Word;

Just to rest upon His promise,

And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!

How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!

Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,

Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;

And I know that Thou art with me,

Wilt be with me to the end.

Thank you, Father, that I can trust you with every anxious thought. Thank you that I can trust you with this precious little one I am soon to meet, and that she too can trust you for all things. Thank you for the promise of being with us always, even when we're weak and weary. I am truly grateful that I have learned to trust Thee - please remind me of these simple truths when I try to take matters into my own incapable hands. I do know that "Thou art with me," and I praise you for the promise that you will be with me unto the very end.

A Whole New World

At 37 weeks, "d-day" is truly right around the corner! I've been busy this week getting things ready, and I must say, I feel like I'm entering a whole new world. I've mainly been working in her room trying to get things in order n ow that we finally have our dresser/changer (it's a long story why we didn't have that nearly a month ago...I order it online, and it took 3 deliveries to get it right!). I love the furniture, though, so it was worth the wait I suppose. Here's a peak at it...obviously the organization is still a work in progress! Also, here is the diaper cake a friend gave me just this week - how cute!

My handy-man getting it put together the other night:

I threw a quick picture of the crib on here the other night, but I can't help but put up a few more. I am just in love with this bedding my Grandma made - it's so pretty! If nothing else gets finished, baby J will certainly have a beautiful place to sleep when she comes home :-)

I also got the Moses Basket set up in our room since she'll actually be sleeping there for the first little while. I think it gives us both a good reality check to see this first thing when we wake up and right before we crawl into bed. Sleep is going to have a whole new meaning very shortly!

Yesterday I did a bunch of baby laundry, and I have to admit - I kind of enjoyed it! I'm sure this will be one of very few times I'll say that about laundry, but folding all of those tiny little clothes for the first time really was kind of fun. I can't wait to have my baby girl here to snuggle in these sweet little blankets and onesies! But to be honest, the sight of baby clothes all over my bed was a little foreign...I suppose I better get used to this!

We also installed the carseat last night, so I am reminded anywhere I go that soon there will be a squirming baby girl riding along very soon! I didn't get a picture...but you can use your imagination I'm sure :)

So I suppose I have finally reached that "nesting" stage...although, I wish this hit bout 2 months earlier when I had a lot more energy! Hopefully I still have a bit more time to finish things up. At my now weekly check-up on Wednesday, my doctor said the baby had dropped, but I haven't started to dilate. I'm good with that for now...a couple more weeks (at least) should give me the time I need to really finish getting things in order. What am I forgetting?? Feel free to pass on any tips for this "any day" stage - I welcome your advice (as opposed to the strangers who stop me in the grocery store)!

37 weeks

Happy 30th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! Thank you for the consistent example you have been to me of a godly marriage. I can only pray that Dan & I might also pass on such an incredible legacy to our own children. It's truly the best gift you could ever have given us.

Congratulations on 30 years, and may God bless you with 30 more!