a minor set back

Our little angel was diagnosed with Jaundice and had to spend two days in the NICU under the special lights and photo therapy blanket. This happens when the liver is not properly discarding of bilirubin and red blood cells. This caused us to half to be on a pretty rigid schedule which only allowed us to hold her when we were feeding, we had a half hour max every three hours. Although this is common in newborns, this was tough to stomach at first, but it got easier as we tried to remember that God is the great Physician and that he would see her through. After her levels dropped we were discharged to come home, then she rebounded, so we had a special blanket delivered to the house. She had to be wrapped in the blanket at all times. We call her our little glow worm! After being poked and having blood drawn every day, she is finally at a low risk level... Praise Jesus!

worth the wait...

WORTH THE WAIT…
Finally, SHE made it. What an amazing experience this last week has been. No matter how much you try prepare yourself for what will happen before, during and shortly after the birth of your child, you just can’t. The overwhelming sense of God’s omnipotence, grace and love flood your heart the instant you hold your child. Words will always fall short when trying to describe the changes a husband and wife go through when they experience bringing a child into the world. In an effort to record our state of mind JJ and I each picked ten words that reflect our thoughts…
JJ: breathtaking, amazing, blessed, emotional, excitement, joy, peace, gratefulness, honor, beauty.
Kara: Amazing, cherish, trusting, unbelievable, loved, searching, overjoyed, blessed, family, proud.
As the events have unfolded before us, we realize that every ounce of Olivia Grace was worth the wait. Our tears could stain a million shirts as we think of the blessing it is to be the parents of this sweet little girl, to call her our child. She brings with her a thunderstorm of emotions, blowing winds of excitement, joy and apprehension, dropping raindrops that fall to the deepest caverns of our hearts, and displaying clouds which reflect heavens glory and blessings.

Trying to get things started...

JJ and I were so anxious to have our baby come out, we decided to take radical measures to get things started. We drove up to Multnomah Falls and with water bottle in hand, painstakingly hiked to the top. We were definitely getting funny looks as people passed by, but we were determined! We waited until after we had successfully climbed up and back down before sharing with friends and family our plans, we knew what sort of feedback we would get...ARE YOU CRAZY? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? (apparently in the last few weeks of pregnancy your reasoning skills seem to disappear! ) Unfortunately the sweat, heartache and heavy breathing produced no early signs of labor...again reminding us our baby will come on it's own timing! Regardless of the outcome, the day was beautiful and the hike felt great, after we were finished!

Due Dates

After spending close to 40 weeks with a baby growing inside you it is hard to believe that just a few days could seem like such a long eternity. The 9th of July was our first due date. Ha! That came and went... Now we will wait for the second date; the 18th. The days seem to strech out before us, vast as the oceans. Although we are trying to maximize these last few days and hours we have as just a couple, we are anxiously awaiting when our labor will begin, we are eager to hold, cherish and celebrate with joy over our first child! As we are waiting, we are learning patience...ultimately we are realizing that only God, the greatest Physician, knows the exact moment our child will be brought into the world, and we rest in peace that He is putting the finishing touches on His little creation!

baby names

We consider ourselves very planned out people...so we ask, why is it less than a week from our delivery date and we have not settled on a name for our little baby??? I suppose we are waiting for just the right name, or a lightning bolt to strike us and provide for us just the perfect name. Luckily we do have a few that have stuck around; jackson, noah, cooper, elliot, carter, oscar, olivia, grace, madelynn, makennah, claire...it is just so hard to decide. There are just so many things you need to be considering...JJ has been focusing on what the nicknames for each of the above will be, while my brain thinks back to any students I might have had in the past and how the name will sound when our child is 10, 20 30 years of age...I suppose when we look in to the eyes of our newborn it will come to us!