He Rocked It

Literally. Listened to praise music this morning on the NST table... Put the headphones to my belly... Baby boy seemed to enjoy it. Nate was giving me a foot rub. I seemed to REALLY enjoy that :) I'm so spoiled, I know.

The NST tech made it sound like he was going to fail or that we'd have to lay there for a long time again. I prayed for baby to dance for the Lord. He did. How fun. The midwife came in, rescued us, and we were on our way to our appt. with her. She says she think there's a good sized baby in there, maybe 7 pounds right now :) and she thinks if he goes to the end, he'll be low 8's. SO Cool. Go God and go diet high in protein :) Ha.

By just after nine, we were on our way out, I think our shortest appointment in over a month. We are so grateful! We can hardly wait for this little guy to join us! Any day now, any day.

Thanks so much for praying for us!

We love you!

Nate, Jenny, and Baby Boy

37 Weeks!!!! Maternity Photos Courtesy of Sanderson Images

Our dear friend Kim took photos of our little boy and the effect he's having on mommy's belly and our lives together. We love the photos and we sure do love the little guy who will be here in 3 weeks or less. We are so grateful, so very grateful.

If you'd like to see the photos, enjoy the slideshow Kim created:
http://www.sandersonimages.com/access/slideshows/Hoover_Bump/

He passed again - Praise God!!!!

Baby Boy passed his NST again today!

Thank you so much for praying for him.

We are at 3.5 weeks or less until we meet our little buddy. What a joy!

We love you,

Nate, Jenny, and Baby

Nursery Project

Nate helped me turn a vision into reality in the baby's nursery and I love it and thought I'd share with you, so you can catch a glimpse into baby boy's world :) Well, soon to be world... I've been talking about this thing I wanted to use the "You are wonderfully made" sticker for that we picked up at the place we got our rocking chair from. Nate took my thoughts and we used an old picture frame, some paint, a piece of wood he beat up and painted, and some hooks and ribbon and this is what we came up with. He's so good at projects like this!

My boss talks about the "knit" in this verse being the same as the sewing together of the curtain in the Holy of Holies (only two places in Scripture where that same word is used like this...) and I just love that! I also love thinking that God knows all the days of our little boy already and while some have come to be in the womb, there are many more to come on the outside. I am so humbled that we have been chosen to raise this man for God's glory. How exciting!

PS - Don't worry, it's not hanging over the crib, it's behind it, for those who might worry about such things ;)

The crib was a gift from the Weaver's and Sanderson's and came with the fun nursery bedding. We love it and think it looks so cute. It's so fun to make his room all cozy and welcoming for him! We are so blessed and are looking forward to his arrival.

We'll post pictures of the rest of the room soon - as soon as the walls look more interesting than they currently do...

He passed, he passed, he passed - praise God!

Hi all,

Just a very short note to say thank you for praying! Baby boy passed his NST this morning!!!! We saw some strong spikes and the techs and midwife were both pleased. We praise God for this improvement and ask for continued prayers for his growth and for his little life.

I also had high blood pressure again 143/88 when we went in, but I asked her to re-check it (to see if my theory of nerves was correct) and when they re-checked it, it was much lower... 136/78.

I feel light as air today and just so grateful for God's gifts to us!

We love you!

Jenny (for Nate and baby, too)

We did better today!

Hi all,

Thank you so much for praying! We had an appointment this morning and our little boy moved a lot, but didn't have significant spikes in his heart rate (though he did have more little ones than last week and the week before). So they sent us to have another ultrasound. He rocked it and did all things he was supposed to - fake breathing, fine and gross motor skills, etc. So he got an 8/8 on that - 100%. Sweet. Already acing those tests ;) Nate and I were excited and relieved. Nate's a trooper, sitting for hours at a doctors office while I get all this attention and making sure I have water, snacks, etc.

They are having me tested for pre-eclampsia as my bp has been high for a few weeks and I have some swelling. Also, last week I gained one pound and this week, I gained three. Whatever people. I had Hess' BBQ on Sunday night. You can't be upset that I ate 6 or 7 ribs! Ha. Anyway, so I have to do a 24 hour urine test (weird as can be, have to keep my urine in a container for 24 hours and on ICE in a COOLER) and then blood work tomorrow morning when I go turn my refrigerated urine in. I'm chuckling because this is very weird to me.

I'm not nervous at all for what's going on with me. The swelling could be that I'm later in pregnancy and it's summer and that office stresses me out! and the weight gain could just be a normal sort of thing (a few too many ribs, a trip to Lapp's valley farm for their extra fattening ice cream). Or maybe little Harvey is growing leaps and bounds. Who knows. I did cry a little bit (it snuck up on me, I couldn't resist it). I just want everything to be okay. I'm ready for a doctor's appointment that says - Great Job, everything looks PERFECT. Oh, well, a gal can dream, right??? Right???

Again, really, thank you for continuing to pray. I have another NST next Thursday bright and early and I am still praying for those spikes (15 beats extra per minute than his baseline for 15 seconds at a time.)

Love you all!
Jenny (and Nate and baby, too)

Nate, Jenny, and Very Soon to Be Here Baby Boy!!!

Hi All,

Wow, it's been a L.O.N.G. time since we posted anything! We have traveled some, had family visits, were blessed by a baby shower, and so much more in the past couple of months! It's hard to know where to start...

The ladies on vacation :)

In June, we were able to go on vacation with some dear friends of ours. We rented a place in the Poconos and enjoyed time visiting a Boulder Field, Kayaking, Playing Games, Eating, more Eating, dealing with a newer car that wouldn't work correctly :( and seeing God draw us closer still as we worked through life. Our friends nicknamed our boy Harvey Jirah Hoover until he's born, so they have something to call him, and it's cute, but it won't stick past his birthday! It was so fun to be around a crew of people who love God, who love each other, and who can laugh and challenge us! We'll be starting a small group in a couple of weeks with these same couples - we are so excited!

The boulder field...

Also in June, my mom came to visit us, which was fun. She had fun planting a garden of tomatoes, peppers, squash, and many herbs. Nate's family hosted a family baby shower for us and we were so blessed by family, friends, and my coworkers. It's incredible how generous people are! It was so great to have mom here to share in the celebration with us!

At the end of June, we enjoyed a long weekend away with Nate's family to the mountains - what a great weekend! We said farewell to our "family" friends from Switzerland (they were included in our family gatherings for the past year they lived here). I'm sure we'll see them again, but it was still a bit sad!

Our son continues to grow and do well. We have had a couple of tough doctor's appointments in the past couple of weeks, with non stress tests early due to his two vessel cord. The tests were not showing his heart rate elevating when he moved around, which one doctor said was fine until week 34 (which is this week) and then last week, they were worried, so they had us have an ultrasound. He didn't fake breathe enough, so that was hard - it's tough when you don't quite understand what's going on. I finally had to ask for the worst case scenario and they told me that they would just induce at week 37. So, that's not too bad. From the ultrasounds, however, his growth is right on track! Praise God! Our blessing might arrive in as few as three weeks and no more than six weeks (they won't let him go past his due date of August 18). Please continue to pray for his health and growth. We pray his heart does what it's supposed to in the days to come and if we have any extra ulstrasounds, we pray he does the breathing thing, too :) Please pray, too, as Nate and I continue to prepare our hearts and home for his arrival.

Nate has been a wonderful husband through this pregnancy (and before!) and not a day goes by I don't thank God for blessing me so much! He's a wonderful mix of strength and care and well, he is just so nice to me! He loves the Lord and continually takes our family before Him in prayer and encouragement. I am blessed, no doubt about it! We continue to learn and grow together and life is just so much fun with Nate! We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our son!

Thank you so much for praying for us in our work. Ministry for both of us continues to be a blessing and we are so grateful God continues to pour out His love on us through what He has called us to. The projects for MDS are slow during the summer months, which has been great, as I've been able to see more of Nate :) Our new assistant here at work is picking up well and I think she'll be ready when I go for maternity leave for a little while! She fits right in and is a joy and delight to be around, too. I plan to return to work 20 hours a week after a brief time away. It's a blessing to have that flexibility. The Alliance continues to grow and we now work with over 150 programs around the world. I still can't believe I get to do this! It's an incredible journey. We are already planning for next year's annual meetings which will be held in India, Ethiopia, and Mexico. I'm not sure if we will go to one of the meetings or not (maybe as a family!). That would be an adventure for sure!

I have been attending a women's Bible study on Tuesday nights with other ladies from our new church, Living Hope, and Nate is going to start playing drums with the worship team. We're excited to be planted at this church for the time and get to know others who go there.

I will sign off now, but I thank you and thank God for you all. Your friendship, prayers, encouragement, and support are a great gift!

Many blessings to you,

Jenny (for Nate and baby, too)