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!

February was a crazy, hard, but beautiful month for our family.

We lost Randy’s Grandpa Rod in on February 5th. We were so sad, but it was also bittersweet because Rod had been in so much pain and had been suffering for months. We were so grateful we’d had time with him in November, and it was amazing to have Randy’s parents come home to celebrate Rod’s life. He was such a beautiful person, who wore his heart on his sleeve, and instilled a life and attitude of service into his family. Randy remembers him babysitting the boys and telling Randy what an amazing pianist he was, gushing about it, and Randy feeling so loved and cared about that he would give that attention to detail. He is the reason Randy is the first to go shovel a driveway or lend a hand to someone. We are so grateful for his legacy and his love.

We celebrated Randy turning the big 3-0! We got away for a weekend and did a wreck it room with friends, ate yummy food, went to Guitar center shopped, and had a great getaway. We did 30 presents for 30 days leading up to his big day and it was a blast.

We got to go meet some Jazz players for a Junior Jazz party and the boys loved it! Any time they see THT or Walker Kessler play they remember that they got to meet them!

Graham is quite the photographer and loves to take photos of his brother. He loves to invent games for him and Wells to do, and has such a wonderful imagination. He is a great helper, a fantastic reader, and loves math the most in school. He is so outgoing and loves to play with friends now. Graham wants to do his hair like Dad’s all the time, wear necklaces, anything he can to be like dad! He loves DK and video games.

Wells is a little copycat and wants to do whatever Graham is doing. He loves to run into our room and cuddle in the morning. He is OBSESSED with music and wants to jam all day long, begging us to turn the music louder. He is sweet, opinionated, loves eating anything, and is getting to be so fun.

Baby bro is looking so cute! We loved getting some ultrasounds of him this month and seeing his cute face up close. He’s a mover, always has his hands covering his face in ultrasounds, and we are so excited he’s coming so soon!

Dad taught Mom and all their friends kickboxing in February which was SUCH a blast. We had the best time! Mom has diabetes again which is expected but not fun. We’re figuring it out again and it’s always worth it!

Concerts, a Galentine’s party, lots of busy days and busy nights, but lots of fun have rounded out our February. We are so happy, we feel so lucky, and we love this life!

Gr

The month has FLOWN by and I feel like that is what I say every month. Graham is thriving in school and says his favorite part is riding the bus. He went to a school birthday party this month and he did awesome. Got dropped off and ran around and had fun, not even missing mom. He went and did Spectrum testing and walked into the building a little nervous but handled his nerves like a champ. He and Wells love telling Alexa to play different songs all day long and he is getting great at video games. He loves Pokemon and TMNT and is the sweetest guy ever.

Wells wants to go to school so badly. He asks me every day when “spiderman preschool” starts. Not sure where he got that idea! He is curious, always wants to make sure everyone is OK, and is very independent. He wants to get dressed himself, grab toys by himself, read himself, anything! He is starting to learn his letters and loves our little home preschool. He loves cuddling his stuffties and says ‘eebeeedeebee’ about them in the sweetest little voice. He loves eating food on everyone else’s plates and asks for a piece of my toast no matter what he has eaten already. I know we are in trouble with these boys and their appetites already!

We’ve only had a couple real snow days and the boys didn’t last long outside. We’ll see if we get any more or if we have to wait until next year!

We’ve loved the indoor play place, building blocks, playing with friends, and watching baby bro grow! The boys LOVE finding out how big he is and the last ultrasound was perfect. His heart looks great, he’s a little ahead of schedule measurement-wise, and the weeks are literally flying by until he is here. We have carseats, clothes, and one pack of diapers so we are getting so ready!

In 2024 I want to focus on Abundance. An abundance of money, of time, of God, of family, of love. We are so blessed and i want to lean into that this year.

In

December was such a beautiful and fun month. We went to This is the Place where it was WINDY but we had delicious treats, saw all the fun pioneer houses and did activities, and even saw a live nativity. The boys had a blast! We went to the Layton Lights which is always a family favorite.

We went to a couple Jazz games and the boys were in absolute HEAVEN! They ate yummy treats and cheered and truly had the best time ever.

We saw Santa and Wells wisely told Santa he wanted “presents” and Graham was floored that Santa knew we left him cookies last year.

We decorated gingerbread men, made cookies, and did a service project with the United Way to make bead kids for little kids and buy them books. The boys LOVED doing it and it was so fun!

We are HALFWAY to baby which is absolutely insane. We did the big ultrasound and it went so well, we loved it and his cute face was so fun to see.

We spent tons of time with friends and family. We went on a Staycation that included ice skating which Graham LOVED and Wells was pretty unsure about. We stayed at the Little America and went to dinner, did shopping, swimming, candy windows, and a Home Alone movie night with pizza and ice cream. We finished it up with a delicious brunch buffet where Wells was enamored with the drummer of the live music band, and Graham loved the macaroons. I helped at Graham’s class party and it was so fun to see him in his element with his friends.

Our Christmas was so fun. We made curry for everyone for Christmas eve and opened books, did crafts, and had a special talk about Mary and Joseph. Christmas Morning was PURE MAGIC. The boys loved their TMNT toys, Pokemon stuffed animals, baby Grogu and robot cat, games, books, crafts, and more. Mom and Dad loved their clothes, bath bombs, and new bags. Everyone got loads of candy and had so much fun. We spent the rest of the day with the Richards and loved seeing cousins and playing games. Richards Christmas a couple days later was fun with even more presents, bells, more games, and all the fun we could handle

2023 was a beautiful year full of so many perfect memories. Watching our family get older and bigger has been amazing, and sad at the same time. We are so excited for what 2024 has in store for us.

BABY LOW IS ANOTHER BRO! We are beyond excited to have another baby boy in our family! The boys are just over the moon, so pumped and out of their minds happy to have another brother. Graham was sure we needed to have 3 boys in our family and he was right! Mom and dad both guessed a boy—it’s like everyone knew we needed another brother to make our family right!

In November we enjoyed so many fun activities. Mom and Graham went to the ballet and Graham actually loved it! We went again to the Nutcracker which is such a family favorite, we can’t to bring Wells next year. Getting to share something so special with my family is amazing.

We had a Friendsgiving weekend event which had pizza, s’mores, night games, a 5k run, a talent show, a balloon parade, and a delicious dinner. We have the best friends ever and we feel so lucky to have them!

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with a short game of frisbee (we are all getting old!) and the most delicious food. We went to Logan in the evening and got to spend time with nearly everyone in the Low family and Grandpa Rod. It was a really special night to be all together and get to celebrate our family all together.
We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with a short game of frisbee (we are all getting old!) and the most delicious food. We went to Logan in the evening and got to spend time with nearly everyone in the Low family and Grandpa Rod. It was a really special night to be all together and get to celebrate our family all together.

We spent lots of time hanging with friends and family, lots of time at basketball games which Graham LOVED. Wells wanted to play SO BADLY and they both loved getting to dribble on the court and hang out. We decorated for Christmas and started getting in the Christmas spirit which is crazy, this year has absolutely flown by.

The year is coming to a close and I really can’t believe it has gone by so quickly. Next year we will have a baby brother here and it almost doesn’t seem real!

October was a month mostly focused on Japan! We have an entire book talking about the trip and how amazing it was. It was a dream come true, once in a lifetime wonder.

The rest of October we got down to business doing all the fall things! We went to Scary Hill with cousins where Graham loved mini golf and rock climbing, and Wells loved mini golf and the tractor ride. We went to Black Island Farms where the boys were SO brave and tried the giant slides, and LOVED them! We carved a Jack Skelington pumpkin, watched Graham at his Halloween parade, and the boys were the Mario Brothers for Halloween where they got TONS of candy and we ran out of donuts! We announced we were pregnant to our friends acting like Barbie’s pregnant friend Midge and Ken. It was SO fun! We had a Halloween party with friends which turned out so fun and magical. We have loved fall and had the best October of our life!

Fall flew away from us! We had an amazing month celebrating my birthday (Dad took me to Sur La Table where we cooked, and we spent a night out at a fancy hotel having a great time for my 30th day!) and doing my birthday running, hanging with friends, seeing fall leaves, playing at the park, and mom took a work trip to Chicago that went crazy! Her coworker and friend had to go to the ER and mom was there helping her, trying to figure out if she needed to fly home or stay, it was crazy. But it all worked out and her husband came to be with her, it was all ok in the end!

We potty trained Wells at the beginning of this month and we were so proud of him!! He did such a great job. Graham is adjusting really well to kindergarten and is starting to love it more and more each time he goes!

September was also crazy because nobody knew, but MOM WAS PREGNANT! We found out at the very end of August and mom was NOT feeling very good! Super nauseous, but we were so so excited!

My 30th birthday party was a dream come true. The best day with so many friends who spoiled me rotten. The tea was delicious and everyone dressed up and made it fun. Then my friends surprised me with a ROOM to spend the night all together hanging out and having a blast. I am spoiled! They went around and said the SWEETEST things about me. I just started bawling because I can’t believe how lucky I am to have the greatest friends ever.