Posted via email from Nathan and Kristen’s posterous

I just posted some more to Facebook and haven’t copied it over here yet.  However, anyone may view the photos (even if you haven’t joined Facebook) by going here:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76357&l=28246&id=515746370

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Nathan and Kristen’s posterous

Anderson and Mom are doing well.  Dad has come home real quick to grab a shower and fresh change of clothes.

We were sent to the hospital after yesterday’s doctor’s appointment due to Kristen’s elevated blood pressure.  We finally got all situated a bit before 5.  At one point a c-section was in the offing, but Kristen’s progress was such that it was not necessary.  After 15 minutes of pushing, Anderson was born at 1:22.

Overall labor was painful for Kristen, but the epidural fully kicked in just before pushing.  Anderson passed all of his initial screenings and is currently sleeping.  We’ll shortly go to a new parent class to learn the tricks of the trade.

If everything goes well, we could be discharged at noon Saturday, but we’ll see.  Until tomorrow, only cell phone pictures will be posted.  We can’t wait to get more pictures up!

Thank you everyone for prayers and thoughts.

Anderson came into the world January 30 at 1:22 am. He weighs 6 pounds and 11 ounces and measures 19 inches. Mom and son are doing well!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Nathan and Kristen’s posterous

Posted via email from Nathan and Kristen’s posterous

We braved the snow to get some pictures of the baby… Everything looks good!

Posted via email from Nathan and Kristen’s posterous

Our big news is that in early April, Kristen and I will move to Roanoke where I will work for the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association as the Baptist Mission Centers Director.  Kristen will continue as the Youth Missions Coordinator at the Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia.  She will largely work at home.

Though responsible for the overall ministry, I will primarily work at the Baptist Friendship House west of downtown while another site coordinator will work at the Baptist Community Center east of downtown.  The centers’ mission statement is to “impact the community through Christian love with ministries that effectively meet the needs of people”.  Current ministries include a food pantry, clothes closet, after-school program, and community Bible studies.

Baptist Friendship House

Baptist Community Center

This opportunity will also allow me to go back to seminary through the Leland Center.

How we got to this point has been really awesome - detailing that process and God’s hand in it is a whole series of blog entries.  We knew God had something big in store for us (other than having a baby, which is pretty big!), but didn’t know what it would be.

Along with looking forward to my new job, we also really like Roanoke.  I think I can get used to seeing mountains everyday!

The most exciting thing is that for the first time in our marriage, we will be able to live, work, and worship in the same city - heck, even the same area code is a step in the right direction.

Also, we feel it’s prudent to recognize that Kristen and I can’t ever do one thing at a time… we’re having a baby, so lets move and change a job!  However, we’re used to it… that’s how we roll. 

Some aspects of the move will be harder than others.  We will be farther from family, but Kristen and I both know that 3 hours isn’t really that far away.  Hey, we could be moving to North Dakota, as that was a possibility throughout this process.  Although we’re moving to a new city, we’ve met a lot of folks down there and feel like we’ll be in good hands.

We’ll be in Roanoke Friday to meet with my new boss, flesh out some details, and further explore potential housing areas.

All we ask is for prayers as we go through the next few months of transition.  As we learn more details (and have the baby!) we’ll post them here.

A few months ago Kristen and I bought an iMac - our first desktop computer together. 

Last night we bought a Panasonic HD video camera.  Circuit City offered a great deal on it as the camera was a display model.  The camera features a 60 gig hard drive and an SD flash drive. 

Basically this means that our son will have his first moments recorded in HiDef with sappy GarageBand songs playing over them.

Case in point:

Posted via email from Nathan and Kristen’s posterous

It’s very surreal to think that in just a few more weeks we’ll be meeting our baby!  In many ways (mostly attributed to just being really busy), the last 8 months have flown by.

Being pregnant has been amazing.  Sure there have been some weird “side effects” but that’s just part of it, I think. The worst part has been the facial expressions and comments of people - ex. “Whoa!  You’re huge!!”  Maybe I’ll write a book on “Pastoral Care of the Expectant Parent: When to Keep Your Trap Shut to Avoid Getting Smacked By A Severely Hormonal Pregnant Woman.”

The amazing part though…I love feeling - and watching! - our son move around inside of me.  I love it when he gets the hiccups.  I love that we could sit and watch his heartbeat last week because of the position he was in.  It’s been such a blessing to carry him and I’m looking forward to meeting him!

These eight months have been very uneventful in terms of the pregnancy.  We go to doctor visits, I turn my head away from the numbers on the scale, we listen to the baby’s heartbeat, etc.  My blood pressure at every visit has been 110/70.  This week’s visit was a little bit different, though.

My blood pressure was higher this time - 120/90 - and our doctor was a bit concerned.  That can be a sign of preeclampsia, among other things I suppose, and she was ready to send me up to Labor and Delivery.  She asked a whole bunch of questions to see if I had any other symptoms (which I didn’t) and if I was feeling okay (I was) and checked out the baby.

The great news is that he is doing just fine.  He seems to not be affected negatively at all by my elevated blood pressure.  What a trooper. His heart rate was perfect and he’s measuring right on target.  The other good piece is that we’re nearly 36 weeks now - very, very close to full-term (37 weeks) and if he had to be born now, he’d more than likely be just fine.

After all of that, the doctor chose not to induce at this point.  Instead, I’m on a “short leash,” have to take it easy, and have more frequent doctor visits to be closely monitored.

An exciting addition to this is that I’m 1 cm dilated already!  That doesn’t mean a whole lot, being that women can walk around at 1 cm for several weeks before labor starts, but it was exciting to hear.

The nursery is mostly finished and I’ve already started packing our bag for the hospital, just to be prepared whether he’s born a couple of weeks early or a week late.

Baby is really coming!