Keenan Duane

We are thrilled to announce the safe arrival of...

Keenan Duane Schulz

Monday, August 24th, 9:44am

7lb 13oz; 21.5 inches

He is so precious and worth every bit of the long wait! 

Labor Story (if you don't like these details, skip to next section): Twelve days late, I was quite thrilled when contractions started on their own (without my water being broken as it always has in the past)! They started 3-5 minutes apart at midnight on Monday morning. I wasn't really sure how fast or slow it would go since I've never been in labor at home before, so we made our way to the hospital after an hour and a half and arrived at the hospital at 2am. I had been dilated to a 3-4 on Friday and was at a 4 when we arrived. The midwife on call said we could probably go home for a few hours, but my husband didn't think that sounded appealing so we decided to hang out there. He laid down and got some sleep while I power-walked the halls until 5am. At that point I was dilated to a 5, and again we were given the option to go home, hang out there for what may be a long time, or get my water broken. Since I had already lost a night's sleep and wouldn't be getting any rest until the baby was born, I agreed to have my water broken. Contractions were still five minutes apart, but were getting longer and more intense by 7:30 when I decided it was time to wake up my husband so he could kick into gear and help me through the last couple hours. At 8:15, my regular midwife came on call (she was quite thrilled that I had waited for her shift to have my baby!) and I was dilated to a 7-8. I labored in the whirlpool tub for the next hour. Around 9:15 I was dilated to 9 cm and started pushing shortly thereafter. Contractions were still spaced about five minutes apart, which was great because I got some nice breaks, but it also meant the final hurrah took a little longer than the past couple babies. Keenan Duane arrived at 9:44am! Many prayers were answered as everything went quite seamlessly, all praise and thanks to God!

The Pandemic Experience: I've had several people ask how Covid-19 affected our hospital experience. Since we weren't suspected to have Covid-19 (no symptoms, exposure, or positive tests), we had a fairly normal experience. Worrying about exposure to Covid had really been a major stress factor for the last month of my pregnancy because I couldn't imagine having a baby without Matt by my side and being confined to the operating room during labor. Again, thanks be to God for His providence. As far as our time at the hospital, we were expected to wear face masks any time we left our room. We were not allowed to leave the labor and delivery unit when I was in labor (in the past we have been allowed to go up and down stairs and walk all the hospital halls). No visitors were allowed, not even our parents or children. Matt was only supposed to leave and return once a day, which made him a little stir crazy after awhile. And many mothers are choosing to be discharged after 24 hours rather than two days, an option we were happy to accept! That way we could see our children sooner, enjoy the comforts of our own home, and stop getting our naps interrupted by vital checks! :)

The Name: Keenan Duane. Simplest explanations first, Duane is Matt's dad's middle name! The idea for Keenan originated from the Bible name "Kenan" in I Chronicles 1 which is just another spelling for Cainan/Canaan, Adam's great-grandson. So far all our children have Bible names, which wasn't necessarily a criteria of ours, but it would keep up the pattern if we found one we liked. At one point we mentioned that we had a J, L, and M name, but no K. A couple days later, I came across the name Kenan and we both loved it! The main issue we struggled with was whether we should spell it in its original form of "Kenan" or add an "e" to make the pronunciation obvious (though the new spelling would turn it from a Hebrew name to an Irish name with a completely different meaning). An hour after he was born, we settled on giving him an easy-to-pronounce name rather than a meaningful one. ;)

And we love him. :)

We were discharged at 7:30pm on Tuesday!

We made a couple stops on the way home to visit the ones who would have normally visited us in the hospital...

Grandpa and Grandma Schulz

Our shirts from Mom Schulz!

The children's first meeting with Keenan! (And the Best. Dad. Ever.)

They were SO excited and in love!

Micah is the sweet, affectionate one.

Joanna is a baby lover. She loves to take care of her little brother!

And then there is Levi...who also is also infatuated! Levi is the playful one who can't stop waving Keenan's arms, wiggling his legs, picking him up and bouncing him and flopping him back down. Keenan does surprisingly well at tolerating him...he must admire his big brother!

Our first picture as a family of six! We are so blessed with such a handful! 

Grandpa and Grandma Massner

Our first visitors at home...Camille and Shelby spent a day with us before they headed back to school! 

Hannah and Rebecca stopped by!

Bill, Vienna, and Russell meet Keenan!

The Massner cousins:)

More visitors...Justin and Jesse!

Uncle Johnny and Uncle Travis

The first week home was kind of overwhelming, as normal. Thankfully I have a very helpful husband! And also thankfully, he is still working from home so he is right downstairs if I need him. The second week went very well. Keenan was a very good baby the first two weeks! He took on to nursing right away and his nights have been great (he has been giving us six hour stretches at night this week!). The third week, he has become quite high maintenance when he's not sleeping. I'm hoping it's just a growth spurt and not the new normal. 

The rest of the children have adjusted well. Sometimes they have too much love to give their baby brother, but we can't blame them for that! The biggest win for Mommy has been getting all four kids to nap simultaneously THREE times now...WAHOO!!

Oh, we are in love! Welcome to the world, sweet baby!

Hangin' Around

The baby is officially a week past due. I feel pretty good for 41 weeks and not impatient enough to get induced, but I am getting kind of stir crazy and ready for a change of pace. 

Meanwhile in Schulz family news...

We're still hangin' around!

Matt has found time to start plugging away at the landscape project again!

Lemonade break!

Progress photo...

A couple weeks ago, Matt and I helped butcher pigs from Phil and Kelli at Andrew and Hannah's place. Their boys' fair pigs originally didn't have a place to go due to Covid canceling the fair, so we got one of the hogs to stock up our freezer with meat. Later, a modified version of the fair ended up going on and they probably could have found a place for the pigs, but it worked out well for us! Our kids got to spend the day with the Schulz cousins at Grandma's house.

They might as well be professionals.

Other highlights of the past few weeks were an outdoor singing at church, "attending" the virtual church conference, and a family night with the Massners after Mom and Dad got home from vacation.

One beautiful 65 degree day, the kids went outside and thought it was SO cold...they had to get all bundled up!

Matt fixed the handle bar on this swing and turned it into a horse!

On Saturday the 8th, we learned that Matt's Grandma Schulz passed away at hospice house after being in the hospital with pneumonia for a few days. We are thankful she is free from the trials of life and has finally won her heavenly crown. The visitation and funeral were Tuesday and Wednesday. The funeral was pretty small due to gathering restrictions and was mainly attended by the immediate family (which is still a pretty good sized crowd). It was good to be together and reflect on memories of Grandma. It is hard to believe she is gone now. 

The boys gave Joanna a rose from the casket and she couldn't have been more thrilled!

Steve and Julie's family came to Iowa for a few days so we got to spend some time with them and the Schulz family a couple nights last week. Sunday, Burlington church moved into another "phase" of reopening and added in a cafeteria style lunch, extended noon hour, and the return to separate seating. I was so excited to not have to make Sunday lunch for my family for the first time since March! It was also the first day of the new Sunday School term...which meant Levi got to go to preschool! He was thrilled!

First day of Sunday School!

Levi won a new bike from the Summer Reading Program this year...how exciting! Now each of the kids has their own bike!

The past couple days with nothing to do have been a good opportunity to spend time with the children...playing, reading, and watching them play. Joanna's potty skills have taken a turn for the better and the boys might be learning how to play peacefully again. Just in time for their lives to turn upside down!

Please pray with us for a safe and healthy delivery, a happy baby, and a smooth transition to a family of six!

Summer Fun and a Birthday Girl

A couple weekends ago, we took a three-day trip to Dubuque for our little "family vacation" at Grand Harbor resort where there is an indoor water park. It was the perfect Covid-time destination with three little children because it was something that was actually OPEN and we could just hang out there most of the time! 

Thursday evening after swimming we got A&W for a picnic and evening at a park.

The water park didn't open until the afternoon on Friday, so we visited Fenelon Place Elevator - an attraction dubbed the shortest, steepest scenic railroad in the world. 

We had a great view of Dubuque from the top!

On the way down...

After the elevator, we visited the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. It ended up being a great place for walking and hiking. The fish pond was a highlight for the children. You could tell the fish were used to being fed! :)

This boy was SO fascinated by all the pretty fish!

Matt and the boys went off on a hiking trail through the woods and found this little church on their hike!

After some naps and and afternoon of swimming, we got pizza and ate down by the river.

My breakfast date on Saturday morning! :)

The kids loved the water park! Levi spent a couple hours just going up and down the big water slides. Matt did his fair share of climbing up and going down the slides with the children too. I kind of forgot that I wouldn't be able to do the water slides or much jungle gym climbing in general due to my pregnant condition, so I spent most of the time in the pools keeping an eye on everybody. 

We got lunch from McDonald's and had another picnic before heading home with three worn-out kiddos!

Burlington held our postponed Sunday School picnic the next day at Matt's parents' house. Most of the students made it for the picture! 

Lots of water games! :)

An outdoor singing was a wonderful end to the evening! It has been so long since we have been able to sing with a large group due to the pandemic!

The next day was Joanna's 2nd birthday! She was SO excited which made it fun to celebrate! Of course, she was thrilled to have a pink cake. Strawberry cake with strawberry whipped cream frosting.

Both sets of grandparents and single aunts and uncles came over for the party!

Our sweet two year old girl! Her favorite things are food, babies, flowers, clothes, and the color pink...most of which were represented on her birthday. I didn't know it was possible for me to birth a real girl...but here she is! However, she does pretty good at keeping up with her brothers with all of their tools, Legos, and boys stuff too.

To continue the tradition that started with Micah's 2nd birthday, Joanna wrapped up all her pacifiers that night and put them in a gift bag while she slept. In the morning, they had all turned into suckers! The first several days I was regretting my decision because she stopped taking afternoon naps, but now she is figuring the nap thing back out again and doing well.

I have gone into "nesting" mode...or "mad scramble" mode...whatever it is called when you realize a baby is supposed to be coming and you don't feel like you have prepared one bit. The past two weeks I have gotten the freezer stocked with meals and snacks and packed our hospital bag so it can collect dust for a few more weeks. I've also gotten a few other miscellaneous things checked off my list.

My sweet corn helpers! Last Saturday Matt was working at church all day so the kids and I were on our own. I got just enough sweet corn to fit their attention span, which gave us two meals' worth and three quarts in the freezer! :)

Sunday we enjoyed a Schulz family night at Andrew and Hannah's. This week we were on the run quite a bit. Monday was the grand finale of Grandma camp with almost all of the Schulz grandchildren. The Lanz children are here from Connecticut and the Dotterer family came for a few days too! Grandma Frizzle took the little ones on a ride on her Magic Airplane!

Grandma Frizzle and her copilot with the mismatching socks.

Tuesday I had my 38 week appointment in the morning and a doctor visit for Joanna in the afternoon. She felt pretty special to be given a Mickey Mouse mask to wear! 

Wednesday I hauled the kids to town in their pajamas so I could get my 38-week Covid test at the drive-thru station. Friday I was confirmed negative, so we are one step closer to a "normal" hospital experience when the baby comes. Now we just have to be free of any obvious Covid symptoms when I go into labor and hopefully all will be well.

I took Joanna's two year pictures this week!

This girl is such a sweetheart with a beautiful smile and lots of love to share! My favorite thing about this stage is the funny expressions that come out of her mouth as she learns to talk more and more! She has a strong spirit and is quick to assume responsibility for keeping her brothers in line: "Micah Cha' Schulz, 'tum back wite now!" It might be good for her to have a younger sibling who actually cares about the orders she gives.

Joanna also loves to help me out...anything to do with food makes her happy and she will eat ANYTHING without complaint! That includes things ranging from fresh broccoli to plain salt to mouthfuls of cat food. 

And she loves to sing along with her favorite songs: "Hmm Deep" (Deep and Wide), Trust and Obey, and "Bo-Bo-Bo" (God Told Noah to Build a Big Boat...).

Love you, sweet girl!