Now Introducing: Owen Alexander Clark!

A typical Friday for Graham and me usually includes a trip to Gymboree class and running some errands. What it does not typically include, however, is my water breaking in the parking lot of the United States Post Office.

Now, it wasn't quite like what you see in the movies. It was more like me looking around wide eyed and thinking, "Hmmm, did I just pee my pants a little?" As many pregnant women know, this (peeing just a little bit) is not necessarily an unusual occurrence. But I had been having this weird Mommy Intuition about our little Owen all week. So, instead of heading to the airport to pick up my good friend Cristyn, I drove home first to assess the situation. I decided that my water indeed had broken.

I called Alex, who was literally at the gate waiting to board a plane to Pennsylvania for a wedding, and said, "Hey babe, I don't want to be over dramatic or anything but I think my water broke". So, he scooped up his things, went to find Cristyn (talk about perfect timing) and drove the 10 minutes home to pick me up. Here is a photo of us ready to head to the birth center.

Next, some documentation of the bump that I've been putting together. I was going to wait until 36 weeks to post. But since Owen had other plans we snapped a few baby bump photos before we left.


We arrived at the birth center at 2:20 p.m. (water broke at 12:30 p.m.) and were placed into triage to be monitored and readied for the birthing room. Mind you, I was not having any painful contractions yet. I was having what I thought to be Braxton Hicks contractions, which are really just my uterus hardening - no pain at all, my stomach just gets really hard. When they checked me to see if I was dilated they found me to be fully effaced, 4.5 cm dilated, and Owen's head was extremely low. We were really surprised at my progress especially for not having any pain.

The next few hours were spent relaxing in our birthing room. They didn't check me again until 5:30 and, unfortunately, there was no change. So, they started me on a little Pitocin and things began to rock and roll! The Pitocin caused my contractions to come closer together and become more intense... fast. My epidural was administered at about 6:45 p.m. I literally went from no pain to "are they coming?" in less than an hour. Once the epidural was in, things went extremely fast. There was a lot of hustle and bustle due to the nurses switching shifts and calling the doctor and baby nurses and getting them to the room. Then it was time to push. I pushed through 2 sets of contractions and little Owen arrived - albeit 30 days early.

Owen Alexander Clark
Born 7/1/11 at 7:30 p.m.
5 lbs 13 oz, 19 3/4 inches

Tonight, Momma and Daddy got to hold Owen for the first time. He spent his first night on earth attached to a CPAP machine along with countless other wires that made holding him impossible. However, Owen has been improving rapidly. His lungs, rather than being underdeveloped, were determined to be "wet," and his breathing has since improved to the point where he is now taking in "room air." Owen still has air being pushed through his lungs through small tubes, but this is just as an aide.

Owen's next big step will be eating. He is currently taking his nourishment through IV... a "scientific umbilical cord," as it were. As soon as he starts showing interest in milk, he will be one step closer to leaving the NICU. Finally, Owen has been decked out in a sweet tanning bed to combat oncoming jaundice - a common occurrence among Colorado Springs babies that his brother, Graham, dealt with as well.

Owen's timeline for returning home has been placed at anywhere between one week and his original due date (July 31). Momma and Daddy are hoping for closer to the former!

Graham's Toddling!

Over the last week, Graham has been much more adventurous as he learns how to walk! He has amped up his "cruising," frequently moving from one piece of furniture to the next on two feet. And, while he has not been able to take more than a couple of steps on his own without support, he has begun taking the "leaps of faith."

Here, we've caught his best attempt yet at walking on his own... spurred by his best buddy, Brannock! It's only a matter of time now...



Next, we have a fun video of Graham with his favorite toys: balls. Daddy's also having some fun... at Graham's expense. But Graham seems to love it! :)

Happy Birthday: Graham Turns 1

Well, we did it. We all got through Graham's first year! Our little man quickly went from newborn to infant to toddler. And next up... big brother. We know he's going to do great. Us we're not so sure about (see amount of change in Graham's swear jar)!

At his 1 year milestone, Graham is not walking yet (so Daddy won the bet) but is "cruising" around the furniture and standing like a "big boy" unassisted. He's smart, however, and realizes he can crawl faster than he could walk, so he will lower himself to crawl to his destination. But we know that walking will come soon enough. His next challenges will be getting the rest of his teeth (he only has 5 which he loves to brush) and weaning himself off of formula, baby food, and pacifier. He currently only uses his "paci" at nap time and nights... or when Momma and Daddy need a break :)

We had a low key birthday celebration for Graham. Here are some photos from his birthday weekend. As well as a quick look back at Graham over his first year.

Graham's new swing and slide combo
from Grammie and Grandpa Clark

And by the way, it takes longer than 20 minutes
to assemble, contrary to what the box says.

A little montage of Graham
opening his presents and eating cake.

A look back... can't believe how he's grown!

Memorial Day Weekend in SF & 31 Week Photos

For Memorial Day Weekend, we headed to San Francisco! It was a last hurrah of sorts before Owen comes along... just two months away!

We were a bit nervous about the flights since it was the first time we traveled with Graham when he was quite mobile. Our last trip was to Hawaii and he wasn't crawling yet. Luckily, he did really well! One of the flights out he was a bit overtired and had to "cry it out" for 5 minutes before conking out, but other than that he was a great little traveler.

We kept the trip pretty low key. We knew we couldn't pack too much in with Graham. But it was perfect and relaxing! Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 took up most of our first day. We spent our time wandering around the boardwalk, visiting the aquarium and watching the sea lions. We also ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe!

Daddy and Graham outside of Hard Rock Cafe

The Pier 39 Aquarium had a cool underwater tunnel.

As cute as he looks, Graham did NOT get a Nemo hat.

Graham made a new friend at Pier 39!

Perhaps our most exciting moment of the day came on the trolly car ride to Fisherman's Wharf, however. A man and two "strangers" came onto the trolly car and tried to get us to play a cup-and-ball game. One of the "strangers" won $100! Why, it looked so easy!!! Needless to say, Daddy did not take the bait, and acted like a good Samaritan when, upon being told that the main cup-and-ball man had just returned from Vegas and didn't need the money, Daddy told him that there were plenty of other people who needed the $100 more than he did.

On day 2, we visited Golden Gate Park. There is LOTS to do there, so we only scratched the surface. We visited the California Academy of Sciences (?), which may have been the COOLEST part of the trip, quite honestly. The museum is fantastic, with a terrific four-story rainforest "dome" habitat, a great aquarium, and penguins! We also visited a Japanese Tea Garden and had a brief picnic before a smattering of rain brought an early end to the day.

The California Academy of Sciences aquarium was better than Pier 39.

Playtime before the rain came.

That night, we also ate some great Chinese food in Chinatown! Graham got to try some spicy food and, much to Daddy's delight, he loved it! Though, he needed some water after a bit of munching on a dumpling! I guess he got some of Mom's genes!

Graham's already better with chopsticks than Daddy!

That's SPICY!

Sunday was a bit more relaxing. For breakfast, we visited with some of Daddy's relatives [David and Jonelle Clark] who also happened to be vacationing in San Francisco. Then, we went to Golden Gate Bridge. The day was gorgeous... but windy! It was certainly chilly, and with Momma well into her third trimester, a walk across the full 1.7-mile bridge was not in the cards. Later that day, we wandered the streets of downtown San Francisco, and Graham did some good people-watching.

A beautiful day in San Francisco!

Hi Daddy!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful family vacation that Graham will remember forever... thanks to our pictures. ;) Next stop: Owen's pending arrival! Here are some photos of Momma and Owen at 31 weeks!

Eating and Playing

Graham has taken a new interest in eating with Momma and Daddy. While he still doesn't like to CONSUME hard foods, he's definitely tasting whatever he can get his hands on... especially if it's steak or chicken! But Graham has also tried and not hated carrots and asparagus. And, in fact, his favorite food of this particular night was BROCCOLI!

Graham's also becoming far more active during playtime, and is standing quite a bit more. He has been able to stand on his own for 5-10 seconds at a time, though that's not captured in the footage below.

Enjoy!

Update on the Clarks

It's been an exciting week. Graham turned 11 months old! It's crazy to think he will be 1 in just a few short weeks. He's adorable as ever with his 4 front teeth (2 on top and 2 on bottom). And even though he recently had a rough couple of days with teething, we still love him! We're really working with him to eat table/finger food. However, he does not love texture and thus we've been finding it difficult to get him to eat the good stuff! He does love to chew on beef and turkey jerky, so that's a start. He still loves his Signing Time videos and we have a ritual of watching the Disney Junior channel while he drinks his morning bottle. He also loves play time with all of his toys and books. Graham is crawling and cruising along the furniture like crazy. He loves walking across the living room with his dino walker. And he is doing much more unassisted standing. I feel like one of these days he will just start taking steps much to his and our surprise-and then he'll be off! He is down to 2 naps a day, but they are usually about 1.5-2 hours long so Momma is able to get stuff accomplished while he is sleeping.

Eleven Month Shot:
They are getting harder and harder
to take as he gets more mobile!

Mothers' Day Outing at the Zoo

It's a Gymboree Day!

Momma and Owen:
28 Weeks and counting

Owen: 24 weeks

This week I am 24 weeks pregnant. T minus 16 weeks until Owen's due date. That's right people... women are really pregnant for 10 months not 9. It's all really confusing, but I'm pretty much telling people that I am 6 months pregnant. It's true! I'm starting my 6 month.

We had a doctor's appointment this week and we got to see Owen again on a 2D and 4D ultrasound. He is really quite cute! He weighed in at 1 and a half pounds (which is right on track) and he seems to be very healthy. Check him out below.

A cute shirt that I got!
"With Bump. Not Plump"

The 24 week bump

Owen in 4D