Clarkson Kei Low

4/26/24 9:43 AM

7 lbs 14 oz

20 inches long

Thursday morning I had a little scare where I wasn’t feeling him move as much as I expected. Randy helped me relax and after an hour I started to feel him move a little bit more like normal. I told Randy to go into the office as planned and I just kept trying to pay attention to my body. Randy asked if I was having contractions which could impact him moving and I laughed and told him I hadn’t had any for a week and that he wasn’t coming that day.

I took the boys to gymnastics like normal and dropped Graham off at school. While I was eating lunch I started to have some contractions but they were short, not painful, and there were only a few. I thought nothing of it and kept working but when Randy texted me to check in I told him I was having a few contractions but they were no big deal. Good thing he didn’t listen and drove home after his work lunch!

I finished up some last meetings I wanted to get done before leave and was still having some contractions. I told Randy I couldn’t be going into labor because my eyelash appointment was the next day and I wanted to get them done! The contractions kept coming and I quickly asked my eyelash stylist if I could come right then, she was so nice and let me! She quickly did my appointment and I kept joking it was probably me being paranoid but at least I’d have them done for my induction Monday for sure!

On the drive home I knew. The contractions kept coming more regularly and I knew we would be going to the hospital that day. I got home and we made the boys dinner and chatted with them about the baby while making sure bags were packed up. Then it was off to Grandma’s to drop them off and off to the hospital!

When we got to the hospital we went to triage, I was dilated to a 4 and my contractions were regular but they needed to make sure I was progressing before they could admit me. We watched the rest of Dune I while we waited to see if I progressed enough. The contractions were getting painful and I was frustrated but they finally let me back! I was dilated to a 5 and they got me ready for the epidural.

My cute besties arrived to take pictures and video and make sure they didn’t miss capturing a thing! They were so sweet to come and sleep on tiny couches to make sure they didn’t miss it. I got my epidural and the contractions started to slow way down. I moved to a six over a couple hours while we tried to sleep, but I got stuck there. The catheter balloon was in front of the baby’s head so they had to move it so he could keep moving. They debated doing pitocin or breaking my water and decided to start giving me pitocin. I slept off and on, chatted with my friends, watched some shows, and waited more.

I slowly progressed over night but wasn’t making great progress, the nurses told me that once my water was broken it would go fast and that they were just waiting for the doctor to come break my water. We made guesses about the baby’s size and when he’d be here and laughed and chatted more.

The doctor arrived at around 7:45 and broke my water. I asked the nurse to check me at 8:20 so I knew if I needed to up my epidural or if I was moving faster. She was shocked that I was at a 9 already! The water breaking had been the ticket.

An hour later they were ready for me to push and Clarkson was born at 9:43 am.

I had a really bad spontaneous hematoma and eventually ended up needing to go to the OR to get it drained and stitched up, and so far it’s been an interesting recovery compared to my others. I also had to get a CT scan to make sure the bleeding was done—it was a little scary and overwhelming to have to be intubated, to have a hematoma the size of a football, and to feel so crummy. I had to stay an extra day in the hospital with all the complications. But Clarke has been SO sweet and wonderful, worth all of the difficult things that happened!

We had a beautiful April leading up to BABY LOW! Randy ran a half marathon and killed it, we had a great time being showered and loved by so many friends, colleagues, and family. We all went to get family manicures right before baby came, enjoyed the Children’s museum, and soaked in our last moments as a family of four. It was an April we will always remember!

March was a beautiful month! The weather started to get warmer and we had a blast spending more time outside. Our Easter was a beautiful time.

Baby Low went to his first concert! The Rocket Summer never disappoints and we had so much fun going with friends. We also went to a delicious fancy dinner to celebrate Kimmie’s birthday and it was SO tasty. We love our friends and have walks to the park, cereal parties, reading time, just doing so many fun things together and it’s the best.

We did our maternity photos and we LOVE how they turned out! It was such a fun time to snap some family pictures together.

We celebrated Mom and Dad’s birthdays with everyone and had a blast with all the grandkids all together! We love cousin time and the boys always have a blast together.

We enjoyed our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt! Easter was earlier than normal this year which meant we got rained out of doing it in the yard, but the church turned out beautiful and fun! Randy helped make eggs and pancakes and the boys ran around and had a blast with their friends.

We celebrated Holy Week and the most sweet moment was when I washed the boys feet, then Wells asked if he could wash mine and Randy’s. It brought me to tears. For five minutes we had a very special, sacred moment in our home. My kids remind me of the love of Jesus Christ all the time. Our Easter was fun decorating Avatar eggs with friends, spending lots of time with cousins, doing Egg hunts, and getting some awesome outdoor toys from the Easter Bunny!

March was a beautiful month! We can’t wait to see what is coming in April!