JQuery :: JCarousel - Set Start Variable Based On Class With Dynamic Data

I have a dynamic jCarousel which pulls in JSON data from php, and prints out the list html. What I'm trying to do is set the carousel start item as a variable, which would find the item with the class ".active", and start with that item. The problem is that since the data is dynamic when it looks for the start item, the list hasn't yet been rendered, therefore doesn't find any class or list data. The code below works with a static list, but not dynamic. I think my options are (a) wait for carousel to load, then somehow set the "start" item after, or (b) after list loads auto-scroll to the item with class ".active".

Here's the code i'm working with for the dyamic list:
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<script language="javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
/* create an image slideshow from a JSON array using jcarousel */

[Code]....