On August 17 at 12:20 pm we welcomed Clark David into our family! He was 8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long with an amazing head full of hair!
The day before he was born, we had one last outing as a family of three. Because of Calvin's love of trains, we spent the afternoon at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Even better, it was close to our favorite little Cuban food restaurant that we visit only occasionally because it's a few towns over. It was the perfect last family outing. All week, I'd told myself that I couldn't go into labor before that day because I wanted that trip so much.
That evening, we headed home full of food and happy. While loading pictures of our wonderful day onto my laptop from my camera, Calvin asked to take a picture. Devin helped him capture what would become the last picture of me this pregnancy. As the evening wore on, I had slightly more intense contractions than I'd been having most evenings that week. But, I chalked it up to all the walking and spicy food of the day. When we headed to bed close to midnight, I noticed I had two seven minute gaps between contractions in a row as I drifted to sleep. But, I was able to sleep soundly for four-ish more hours before waking up to go to the bathroom. With a few bathroom trips between 4 and 5 am, I started timing contractions and realized I was still having them at regular seven minute intervals and woke Devin up.
At this point, I started to feel a little nervous. I was remembering what labor felt like. But, a nice, long shower calmed me down, and Devin and I spent the next couple hours laughing, talking, and drinking Powerade. He headed to a quick meeting at the church at 8 am, and I got to spend a little time snuggling Calvin when he woke up. Wonderful friends of ours picked him up just before nine (right as Devin got back), and took him to church with them. Loading my "baby" in the car to go have another baby was the hardest part of the whole experience for me. Shortly after that, we started getting ready to go to the hospital.
Honestly, the whole experience of being in the hospital was amazing. And, once I was confident that Calvin was cared for and was able to focus on being in labor, it was actually a lot of fun. We laughed and joked our way through triage with the nurses and the doctor. It was pleasant to be told that I didn't look like someone in labor, and the doctor expected to be sending me home. But, at 10:45 am, I was admitted while dilated to a 6 and contracting every four minutes. Devin was the most amazing labor coach ever. I spent time on a labor ball and worked through every contraction with him. Right at noon, I was about ready to go, and I had my water broken. I had to wait through three contractions and then pushed through a few more. In those moments, I was completely focused on Devin...and how hot my face felt. But, he helped me through the contractions perfectly, and the physician let us do that on our own. When Clark was born, Devin announced that he was a boy and cut his cord. He was so tiny and perfect and loud, and I needed him in my arms instantly. He took to nursing pretty quickly and I was able to hold him for about an hour and twenty minutes before they needed to do anything with him. Thankfully, this delivery was much less traumatic for my body, so I was able to enjoy that time even more. By the end of this time, we had decided on a name and had started sharing it with our families.
Almost exactly 24 hours after the last photo of the "three of us" was captured, Calvin was visiting the hospital to meet his new brother. I loved getting this first picture of the "four of us."
Devin began referring to himself as "Dad 2.0" in the hospital. While much of this experience is new, there is still plenty that came back to us. And, most importantly, we've already gained our confidence as parents. It takes a whole lot more to phase us this time around than it did last time. This has made adding a second child much easier than we expected and much easier than the initial transition to parenthood as well. Once again, Devin took the opportunity of having a new baby to pamper and care for me as well.
Calvin immediately took to being a big brother. From the moment he saw him, Calvin has been head over heels for "Baby Clark." We've never had to worry about Calvin intentionally hurting Clark, but we do have to make sure he isn't too generous with hugs and kisses.
Calvin has taken it as his personal responsibility to teach Clark everything he needs to know. I've lost count of the number of times I've listened as Calvin taught Clark about his body parts, colors, numbers, animals, and assorted toys.
The best moments, though, are when he doesn't think anyone is listening and I overhear him telling Clark how much he loves him. Hearing him say, "I love you Baby Clark. I love my brother." will melt my heart every single time.
It's amazing to realize that more than a month has flown by with Clark in our home. He has been a rather easy baby, too. He is much more noisy than Calvin was, but he sleeps longer stretches. He's a champion nurser and has managed to gain a pound a week since his three day weight check--coming in at 11 lbs 13.5 ounces at a month and a day old! He loves to be worn in a baby carrier, has started smiling, and melts when you stroke his chubby little face.
I am so very excited to be his mom and look forward to each and every day with him!
