Well it finally happened!!!!! Our precious baby boy arrived on Monday, August 20th at 9:14 am. He was 7 pounds exactly and 19.5 inches long. We named him Calvin Daniel Henry and will probably call him 'Cal' a lot as well. Here's the story on his arrival--you can read if interested, or you can just browse through the pictures. I know it's kinda long. :)
My water broke at 1:52 am early Monday morning, just the day after my own birthday. I was contracting right away and they were very close together so we hurried to the hospital and were admitted. After laboring for a few hours and then getting an epidural, a very good nurse noticed the baby’s heartbeat was dropping and called in the doctor. (My doctor was actually out of town but fortunately, the doctor on call was awesome! We feel so blessed she was there.) After the doctor checked me she found I was a 9 ½ so they thought that might be the reason the baby’s heartbeat was down. But after putting in an internal fetal monitor and shifting me in different positions, things weren’t changing and in fact were getting worse. All the nurses and the doctor immediately started unplugging machines left and right and rushing around the room. They told me they were going to move me into the O.R. so that they would be ready in case I needed a c-section but that I would probably just deliver like normal in there. I was very worried and started crying. They ran my bed down the hall and got me into the O.R. where they put the monitor back in place and found that the baby’s heart rate was now in the 60’s. That’s when things really got crazy. The hospital staff went into panic mode and I heard them talking about giving me a ‘general’. I knew from the classes we had taken that this meant they were going to have to put me all the way under general anesthesia which is what they have to do when the c-section is such an emergency that a ‘spinal’ (which takes about 10 minutes to prepare but leaves you awake for the birth and your spouse can be present) would take too long. With a general it usually means they have to get the baby out within 1 or 2 minutes, so it’s much quicker, but it also meant that Dan couldn’t be there and I wouldn’t be awake for the birth. I was terrified and scared for our baby but the doctor assured me they were going to do whatever it took to get me a healthy baby. I said a desperate prayer in my heart and then told them to do anything they needed to do to make sure he was okay. So within about 30 seconds they put me out and a few minutes later wheeled our precious baby boy out to a very nervous father/husband outside the operating room. Dan was relieved to hear we were both okay and that the problem had actually been little Calvin gripping his own umbilical cord in his hand so tightly that he was cutting off his life source! Silly little guy—hopefully this is the first and last time he gives us a run for our money—haha, doubtful!
Dan got to be there for Cal’s first bath and videotaped it for me. I woke up in the recovery room about an hour later and got to meet both Dan and Cal in there. It was such an incredibly special moment. I definitely shed many tears in those first moments and pretty much every time I looked at my baby that first day. It was such an amazing feeling to meet my own son and for the first time be together as a family—just the three of us. Standing there with my best friend in the entire world and a beautiful, healthy baby boy that was ours is an experience I will never forget for as long as I live. We feel so very blessed and grateful beyond belief that the Lord has sent us this precious little one. We are already amazed at the love we have for him and look forward to loving him for forever. 
Calvin Daniel Henry!!!!
Birthday Time
My very good friend Liz Carpenter and I have the exact same birthday, just one year apart! Since we live by each other now we had so much fun celebrating our birthdays together. On Saturday Liz and I went with some girls to breakfast at Mama's and then we went and got our makeup done downtown at Nordstrom's. That evening our sweet hubbies took us out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. They also got us tickets to the 'So You Think You Can Dance' show coming to Oakland in November! We can't wait! On our actual birthday we made a delicious dinner with the Carpenters and had some wonderful chocolate cake, compliments of Matt. Here are some pictures from dinner...39 week pregnant pictures definitely aren't very flattering but I will post for the sake of memories. :)
Liz and Matt have been so sweet to Dan and me throughout our entire pregnancy. It feels like they've been with us every step of the way and have helped us out in more ways than are imaginable. They have been so excited and anxious along with us for our baby to come. So on our birthday night after dinner we decided that it was time to get this baby on his way! Liz and I set out to do everything we could think of to get labor going--eating pineapple, foot massages, jumping jacks, toe touches, and a very very long walk with some stair climbing at the end of California Street! We were a little disappointed when at 11 pm nothing had changed.....but when my water broke that night at 2:00 am we realized something must have worked! :) Here are some silly pictures from our walk.
The BEST 4 Years!!!
I know this post is a little late but I started it a couple weeks ago and just never got a chance to finish it. This year Dan and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! I can hardly believe 4 years have come and gone. They have truly been the best 4 years of my life with so many adventures and so many memories. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful best friend to experience life with. It seems like every moment we get to spend together is just never enough! I love being in love and I can't imagine being any happier than I am right now. I love you so much Dan! Here are some pictures from this year's anniversary. With everything going on right now we decided to just have a quiet evening at home with a yummy steak dinner. It was so fun to relax together, watch our wedding video, and celebrate! Dan brought home the most beautiful flowers for me too. I loved them!
Here are some pictures to reminisce over the last 4 years we've had together and our last 4 anniversaries. I always love looking at past pictures.
A picture of when we met--we were both servers at the Brick Oven in Provo, Utah. :)
When Dan proposed at La Jolla Cove in San Diego. I had no idea someone was there taking pictures.
More proposal--now I spotted the photographer. :)
The wedding day--best day of my life!
Our first anniversary--we went down to Zion's National Park and stayed in a beautiful Bed and Breakfast. Here is us with our hostess.
More 1st anniversary
1st anniversary--eating at Outback
2nd anniversary--Since I wasn't up and walking much we celebrated at home and had delicious take out. We also had our new little puppy Cruiser with us.
More 2nd anniversary--Because I was laid up for this anniversary Dan surprised me with the greatest surprise of all. He actually contacted the musician, Kalai, who sings 'our' song and whose music we just love in general and he got him to come do a private performance for us at my Dad's house!!! I couldn't believe it. Dan is the best at surprises.
3rd anniversary!
We went to the Melting Pot for the first time and had the most delicious dinner!
A Most Fun & Relaxing Weekend
This weekend was just what we needed. It felt so good to get out and do a few things but also stay home and relax the rest of the time and just hang out together. On Friday night Jason and Ginny drove up from San Jose and the 4 of us met the Carpenters and went to Belden Place downtown which is a little street that is supposed to be European style with little cafe's that open to the outside and have seating on the patio. It is a very cute little alley and it's fun to see the huge buildings towering all around you. After dinner we walked around dowtown and enjoyed looking in all the windows and even exploring the edge of China Town a bit. It felt great to walk around outside and enjoy the night time breeze in the city. That night Jason and Ginny slept over and in the morning we went to Mama's for breakfast. We had to hit up two restaurants in a row because Jason and Ginny don't have too many weekends left and we wanted to make sure they got to experience breakfast there. It was delicious as always. After breakfast the Millers headed back to San Jose and Dan and I headed home to spend the rest of the day napping, walking to the library, reading, cleaning, and just plain old relaxing--it was great. On Sunday we did more relaxing at home and even started writing in our new baby book. It was fun writing about some of our history and reminiscing on how we met, etc. Since it was a gorgious day we couldn't help but get out for a Sunday walk at Golden Gate Park as well. April drove over from Oakland to hang out with us for the evening and met us down at the park. Dan & I decided he should drive back up to our house with her but that I should walk the 4 huge hills back home--just in case it put me into labor. :) It didn't, but it was still a great walk and felt so good to be out in the sunshine for a change! I guess I'll have to keep walking some more this week!!!
Ginny, me, and Liz at Brindisi's for dinner
The whole group with Belden Place in the background.
Dan and I at Belden Place
Dan is like the baby tamer! Olivia got in his arms and immediately put her head on his shoulder and just grinned. She stayed like that too forever--I couldn't believe it. He definitely has a way with kids. Let's hope he has the same effect on our little boy! I'm sure he will. :)
Gin and me waiting to go inside Mama's
Finishing a delicious breakfast
Me, Gin, and Jason
On the walk back to our car after breakfast I couldn't help but snap this picture of Dan with this beautiful San Fran view in the background.
How hard can choosing a name really be??!! Apparently...VERY!
So Dan and I are completely stumped on picking a name for our baby! We have some ideas but we just can't seem to find one that we are absolutely in love with! So we need your help. We want anyone and everyone to give us their suggestions on names in the comments section. Also, give us your your best guesstimate on when this baby will come! We are very interested to hear what ya'll have to say....:) Thanks for your help!
Progress!
So last week the doctor told us that I'm 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. We were really excited to hear that we are making some progress! Obviously it doesn't necessarily mean that we'll have the baby anytime soon, but at least it tells me that my body is doing something to get prepared for this little guy's arrival and that is definitely good news! The doc said she wouldn't be surprised if he came tomorrow or in three weeks, so who knows?!?! (Real specific, I know :) ) I can tell some things are changing a little as my bathroom breaks are becoming even that much more frequent and my Braxton Hicks contractions have kicked up a little notch as well. But we'll see....it's just a matter of waiting now. I'm not sure who is more excited for this baby to come--me or Dan. Every night he tries to convince me to eat a whole pineapple, run some laps, drink caster oil, or do some other home remedy for bringing on labor...but I'm still a little reluctant to try too many things until he's been in there a little longer. I love how excited Dan is though--it's so fun! We both can't wait to hold our little boy.
A Nursery In the Making
Here are a few pictures of some of our nursery furniture. It is definitely coming along! We don't really have anything on the walls but at least all the big stuff is taken care of! I'll post more pictures when we get things looking even more decorated. 
The cute 'BABY' blocks were made by my friends Ginny & Kelly--aren't they so cute?!
