Rough Week

The last week has been an interesting one, to say the least. Emily has been laid up for the week per doctor's orders, and things were going as well as they could considering the circumstances. But Wednesday night she started to have some more intense and quicker contractions that really worried us both because they hurt a lot more than the earlier ones. So at midnight on Wednesday night we headed to our hospital downtown to check things out.

They monitored Emily and Noah for a few hours and ended up giving her a small shot to stop the contractions (made her a little bit loopy!) and a test to see whether the baby might come in the next two weeks, which came back negative. Also, she is not dilated at all and in fact is very far from it, so that's nice. We headed home about 4am and I got about an 2 hours of sleep before heading to work (slept through the alarm and was nearly late!). But Emily has to stay at home for the next few days until her doctor's appointment on Tuesday and just lay around. My mom is coming today (Friday) and staying a couple days to help out and spend some time with us.

Everything is fine, the Lord has provided and is working everything out first for His good and then our best even when it seems wrong to us or not the best way it could be done. I trust His judgment better than my own!

Continue to pray that Emily has the strength for as much of a natural birth as possible and that she is able to do the things she wants to do in the next two months. Early January now seems a long way off but it will be here before we turn around. We love you all and look forward to sharing Noah's life with you!

Prayer

Hey folks,

We had an eventful weekend, if you haven't heard already. Friday evening, Emily was heading east of Dallas with some friends for a girls' weekend when they had to stop quickly on the interstate and were rear-ended by a pickup which pushed them into the pickup in front of them. The truck that hit them was estimated to be going about 25 mph. Thankfully the girls were in a bigger Toyota SUV so they weren't crushed, etc. But they did get jostled pretty severely and they all have sore backs and necks.

But with Emily being pregnant there was an added worry, so her parents (who happened to live only about 10 minutes from the accident) took her to the hospital and I started to drive from Fort Worth (over an hour away). She wasn't feeling anything was wrong but we wanted to be cautious. The ER checked her vitals and an x-ray and she was fine and also checked Noah's heartbeat and it was strong. But they wanted to keep monitoring things to make sure, so they sent us up to labor and delivery for the rest of the time. We spent the night there until noon the next day and they watched her and the baby. She was actually contracting only about two minutes apart but they were not strong. That worried us (obviously) so they gave her a bag of fluids to try and calm the uterus. The contractions slowed but they picked up again every time she got up to go the bathroom. But they kept slowing and they didn't have to give her any medications, which was nice. The on-call OB told us that she wished every one of the babies she works with looked like Noah in the womb. So everything was fine, but Emily was still very sore.

She has been laid up for the last few days as her spine hurts and her uterus is sore from the contractions. She went to work on Monday but probably shouldn't have, and has since (until at least Wednesday) stayed home. It all seems to hurt pretty bad and she has to move very slowly. Please pray that her strength will come back and that she will not have to be bed-bound since she wants to have the baby naturally and this will severely set that back. Again, they both are fine, the baby is strong, but there are just some precarious things we have to deal with right now. We want him to be a full-term baby but two months seems like a long time away right now.

Thank you for your prayers and for the incredible encouragement I received throughout the process. The friends involved in the accident, their spouses, and our families were amazing through it all and have truly showed us what the body of Christ looks like in daily life. We love you all.

In Christ we place our hope and our trust.

The Start of the 3rd Trimester

We have made it to the homestretch and it seems so close now! It is only a few weeks away that we will be able to hold Noah Wesley in our arms and share life with him. A few things have been going on that make it seem so much closer.

We registered for baby stuff at Babies 'R' Us and Wal-Mart, so picking actual stuff out for him made it a little more real. But it was fun and we have been blessed with so much stuff given to us already (things not on our registry that others won't use, etc.). Also, we have planned at least two showers, one being November 15th in Stillwater at Lori's (my sister) house--if you're in town that day, come on by!--and the other for Emily's family at Thanksgiving. So we don't deserve any of the stuff but it will be great just to get to be with everyone!

Also, we had our childbirth preparation class this weekend at our hospital in downtown Fort Worth. To say it was an eye-opening experience is an understatement. I understood that we were going to see some things, but the nurse didn't even warn us beforehand!!! That would have helped a little bit. But the miracle of childbirth is even more real to me now as well as how intense the curse due to the fall in Genesis is!

Thank you for continuing to pray for us. We are so encouraged by you all and love what God is doing with us even here and now. We don't always enjoy being broken but we have a sense of joy through it all as we realize what He is making us into. May He receive the glory for everything that happens in our lives, including the suffering through which we will all proceed. Get ready now because they are coming if they are not already here!

We love each one of you.

John, Emily, and Noah

The One With The Name...

Ok, here goes.

We have told both of our families now, so it is free game for the blog. The name of our baby boy coming in a few months is..................................NOAH WESLEY WOHLGEMUTH.

John's middle name is Wesley and Noah means peace or comfort in Hebrew. We pray that that is true of him! Please pray with us that he becomes a warrior for Christ and is used by God in a mighty way around the world for His Kingdom!

We love you,

John, Emily, and Noah

26 Weeks

Hello,

So Emily had her 26-week doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and everything was fine, plus she measured at 30 WEEKS! Everyone tells her she is bigger than normal, some even saying that she is as big as they were when they went into labor. So as you can see, her belly is stretching nearly beyond its limit!!! She feels like it will pop if she touches it sometimes! Yeah, he's apparently still a very big boy. We will see if the January date holds up or we may have a December baby! By the way, we'll let you all know the little Woogie's name next week...

My job has been an interesting ride so far. They have put me right in the mix on a couple projects, doing things that my limited knowledge of their systems can handle. I have also made my share of copies. Not the most fun thing in the world, but I am getting paid for it all! It seems like it will be a good place to work, and we will always be busy.

We love living where we now live (close to seminary and church) and we are spending more time with our friends finally. Grandpa and Grandma are coming down this weekend as well and we are super excited for that!

God is so good, He continues to give us peace and joy in the midst of uncertain and often difficult times. Jesus is enough and I am realizing that more and more as we go along!!!

We love you all so much.

John and Emily

P.S. We went and saw the movie "Fireproof" last weekend with Kirk Cameron. It was great and I highly recommend it to all of you! (We will use some of it when we do premarital/marriage counseling with couples in the future!) Plus, we plan on seeing the new movie about Billy Graham this weekend called "Billy." Check them out, you won't be disappointed.

New Job Today!

Started my new job today as a Mechanical EIT with Huitt-Zollars in Fort Worth. It is only a 15-minute drive from our house to downtown (very nice) and the people I will be working with are very helpful. I got a chance to actually do some work today as I figured out AutoCAD (computer program we use) and learned the ropes. The office has a ton of work on backlog so that is really nice. It was a great first day overall.

Emily continues to do well. She seems to have a little more energy right now but it can fade quickly if she does too much. Things are rolling along for us now and it is only three months away from the big event!

P.S. We are going to tell the baby's name in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned!

24 Week Update

Quick note and a couple pics: Emily is feeling fine, but not sure how much more her stomach can stretch! Everything seems to be going well, we think he is still big and he is kicking a lot now. We are starting to think about registering and getting dates firmed up for baby showers so we will let you know. Thanks for your continued prayers as I start my new job on Monday!

Boston Trip

Hey all!

Back from Boston and ready to move on to a new phase of life. We had some adventures and some interesting experiences but it was a great weekend.

We left last Thursday and immediately got bumped to another flight (direct to Boston) due to our original flight (through NYC) being delayed. The only problem was, our bag was still on the original flight. So we were praying that that flight would make it in time for our bag to transfer, but unfortunately it didn’t. So we spent the night Thursday without our bag but it came early the next morning and they reimbursed us for our overnight purchases! Worked out fine. Plus we got comped breakfast on Friday morning at our hotel. Nice.

We spent all day Friday in Boston, working the subway and seeing the sights. Went to Fenway (Boston Red Sox), Boston Common (oldest public park in U.S.), Park Street Church, Old State House, the Cheers bar, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, USS Constitution, took a ferry across the bay (doesn't Emily look so pretty in the ferry picture?!), Faneuil Hall, ate clam “chowdah,” and generally walked the beautiful streets of Boston. The fun part was that we got to spend time together doing all these things!

Saturday we drove down to Plymouth (where the Pilgrims landed), a quaint little town with a ton of history. We saw Plymouth Rock and a replica of the Mayflower (their boat). Then we walked the shoreline and the shops, seeing the church where the oldest congregation in America meets. I also had a lobster roll there, which is sort of a chicken salad sandwich with lobster instead.

Saturday night was a trip. We were asleep by 11 but were awakened by the fire alarm going off, so we evacuated with everyone else (including the huge wedding reception party—maybe they had something to do with it?) at 1:30am. So it was tough to go back to sleep again but we eventually did…until the alarm went off again at 3am. So it was a tough night! Interestingly, the fire alarm was also going off while we were eating at the lobster roll place earlier that night. Hmm…

Sunday we got up (got comped breakfast again!) and drove through Cambridge (Harvard U) then went up along the coast north through New Hampshire and into Maine. It was so beautiful and the coast towns are really neat places! The tall grasses and beaches are really what I imagined New England to be. We hung out on the beach for a while and shopped a little while until our flight left late that night.

It was a great trip and the best part was just being together. We enjoyed it all and everything worked out great. Take a weekend sometime and head up there!

Love you.

Job Offer

Huitt-Zollars called me today and said they are formally offering me a position as a Mechanical Engineer! They are sending the contract/letter in the mail so I may be working as early as next week! Thank you all for your prayers, it is a special feeling knowing that so many are praying for us.

We are also getting ready to go to Boston this weekend! We leave Thursday afternoon and come back Sunday night. Any last minute tips would be appreciated!

Have a great day in the Lord!

John

22 Week Update

Beloved,

Much has happened since we last had an update. We are starting to feel ______ kick a lot now (don't fret, you will find out soon enough!) and we are also seeing some movement in other areas of life.

I had a job interview last week with Huitt-Zollars for a Mechanical Engineering position. I thought it went well, they seemed to like me and want me around even though I have a lot to learn. Well, they called on Saturday and unofficially, verbally offered me the position! The pay is great and it seems like a great place to work. They told me not to accept it yet (they still have a few things to look at HR-wise) but they wanted to make sure I was still interested. So this is a big week for us, as I could potentially be signing a contract and starting work very soon!

OSU held an engineering career fair Tuesday (9/8) and I attended just to hedge my bets a little bit in case something falls through. I made a few good contacts that I will follow-up on and I also got a call from another company here in Fort Worth that is looking at my application there. But on Tuesday I got to be in Stillwater and see my mom, sister, her husband, and my beautiful niece, Laney! I also got to check in with some old friends at church and the football program. But anyway, God is great and has a unique way of handling our "issues" as we work through this job thing.

Classes are cruising along, I am enjoying Hebrew and also getting to study the New Testament more thoroughly. Also, I get to disciple someone and get credit for it! How cool is that! And church is going really well also, we just can't seem to stay away from being completely involved wherever we are.

Emily is feeling okay, too much activity will drain her pretty fast but still no sicknesses or debilitating issues. Tuesday was her 22-week doctor visit (pretty uneventful) and she measured at 24 weeks. As you can see from the pics, she is growing straight out! And her belly button seems to be a little off-centered now, but whatever! Apparently, he is a pretty big boy in there so it could happen earlier than the January 13th date. We are getting really excited about this upcoming process, the challenges and the joys, of raising a boy to become a godly man. We will need your help as we attempt this monumental task!

We love you all so much and thank you for your prayers and support for us down here in Fort Worth! Keep us up on how you are doing, we love to hear from you!

The Woogies (soon to be three...)