Hello Baby Boy Clark.

Hello and happy Wednesday! Mine is being spent watching reruns of Reba and writing this with a sleeping baby attached to me. Isn't life great? This afternoon I thought I'd share with you Jack's birth story. He recently got baptized this past Sunday so this mama is feeling extra sentimental lately. Watch for a blog post about his baptism to come soon!

Where to begin...

I remember finding out I was pregnant like it was just yesterday. Hunter and I had a million emotions rushing through our brains. I mean we were having a baby. This was not a drill. We were shocked, overwhelmed, excited, nervous, scared and basically in disbelief. I believe God grants us things when we least expect them. I am so thankful He granted us Jack. We may not have felt ready at the time but by the grace of God He prepared us for the miracle ahead. Some say pregnancy drags on but those nine months flew by for me. I struggled with mild morning sickness and backaches towards the third trimester but overall had an amazing pregnancy. It must have been all of those cupcakes I ate. It was the most surreal feeling knowing I had life growing inside of me. Especially when I could feel him kick. 

I remember in elementary school we all had to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. My answer was always, a mommy. Some things we just know we're meant to be. I was meant to be a mommy my entire life and now I finally am. I've always pictured how amazing it would be and the cool things we would get to do together. I was right. It's pretty much the best job ever. Truly a full time job tending to this tiny human. The sleepless nights and 3am bottles are all worth it when he smiles at you like you're his whole world. 

Jack was due November, 8th however I mentally prepared myself for him to go over. First time babies are usually late, my mom was late with all of us kids and my sister was late with Ollie. I was oddly patient waiting for him to show up, very unlike me. I knew when he was ready he would let me know. It was the busiest time for us we literally moved into our new home on November, 1st. All I wanted was to be moved in before baby Jack made his debut. Being nine months pregnant and moving into a new house you can only imagine the hormones and emotions I was feeling. What if he came early? Where would we live? Hunter told me repeatedly everything would work out. I knew he was right but it didn't make it any easier to calm down. Luckily we got everything moved in and decorated before he was born!! Both of our families were such a big help moving, packing, painting and decorating. It took a team of us but that's the beautiful thing about family they are always there for you. Leading up to him being born I kept myself plenty busy decorating the house especially his nursery. I've been dreaming of decorating his nursery since we found out we were having a boy. I wanted to make everything perfect for when we brought our sweet boy home! 

Before we knew it November, 8th had arrived. Hunter was definitely more anxious than I was he tried giving me pineapple, spicy food and kept wanting to take long walks around the neighborhood. No baby. 

A few days later...November, 11th we both had off from work and were working on things around the house. Hunter was occupied talking with the man setting up our cable and I was busy making a blanket in the nursery for my moms Christmas present. All of a sudden it felt like a water balloon burst in my pants. Uh oh. I knew exactly what that meant. I ran to the bathroom and tried to flag Hunter down. Finally I got his attention and let him know my water definitely just broke. He went back to finish up with the cable man so we could high tail it to the hospital. Man oh man he was a nice man but he kept talking and talking and talking. I remember sitting in the bathroom thinking...really? We are about to have a baby sir...have a nice day! Finally he left, the doctor told us to come in right away. This was it. Baby time! I was strangely the calm one. It reminded me of the episode of I love Lucy when Lucy goes into labor. On the way there we went through the Culvers drive thru. I was well aware after I was in the room it would be ice chips until the baby was born. I wanted a grilled cheese and I wanted it now. We arrived at the emergency area of the hospital and I was feeling good! No pain had stared yet and I was pretty chipper. Nine months of thinking about this moment and it was here. I thought I would be more nervous when I arrived, thinking of the pain ahead. I left it all up to God. Everything is in His hands. That gave me a sense of calm and ready to start this journey. Let's have a baby!

We arrived at our room after the nurse came in and started getting things set up. My mom arrived at our room moments later. When I saw her it really hit me that this was happening! How was a baby possibly going to come out of me? It doesn't sound so beautiful when they  are poking at you with needles. They hooked me up to an IV right away and I naturally waited for the contractions to come. Two hours went by and nothing, no pain. The nurses and midwife suggested moving things along with Pitocin. Before I could even think they were hooking me up to machines and I was confined to my hospital bed. The pain started coming slowly and manageable to quickly and a tad less manageable. I went in with the mind set I was going to try and do it natural, but if I needed the drugs I was okay with that! Hunter was amazing through the process holding my hand during contractions and coaching me when to breathe. I'm sorry if I snapped at you sweetie, you were amazing!! My mom was amazing too she kept rubbing my feet and telling me how great I was doing. The pain wasn't like I imagined I didn't find myself screaming like they do in movies. I found myself closing my eyes and praying that this contraction would end. To me it felt like really bad period cramps. There were moments I just wanted my mommy to hold me and moments I didn't think I could do it. But my loving fiance just kept praising me and holding my hand. I could see the pain written all over his face because I was in so much pain. I knew looking at his face how much he loved me. Half way in I got to a point where I was exhausted and extremely uncomfortable so I remembered my midwife mentioning Nubain. Nubain helps you relax, it didn't take any pain away but it made the experience much more manageable for me! I remember Hunter and my mom laughing at me when I was on it. I was saying things like "the people I love most in the world are right here with me". It kind of reminded me of laughing gas. Not long after my sister got there from Madison. At that point I was so in my zone I couldn't even say hi. Which for me is out of the norm because usually I attack my sister I'm so excited to see her! She's always been so supportive of everything in my life she was right there talking me through everything and crocheting Jack's baby hat at the same time. She knew everything all too well because she recently had a baby of her own. She was like a fountain of information. Finally the pain and exhaustion were getting the best of me, I wanted an epidural! My mom flagged down a nurse right away and they called for the anesthesiologist. My very nice nurse Ann came in and made sure I was doing alright and explained the procedure. I could only half comprehend what she was saying but I knew I needed a break from the pain. Just as they were about to start my epidural I told Ann I needed to push. I've never wanted to push so bad in my life! She told everyone to stop what they were doing and she was going to check me. Sure enough I was 9 1/2 centimeters dilated. We couldn't believe it! Hunter instantly called my mom and sister back into the room. They were going to step out while I got everything hooked up. Everything was happening so fast. My midwife came into the room suddenly her and the nurses transformed the place. Instantly they let me start pushing, it came so natural! That went on for about an hour, I was getting so annoyed with myself. Why couldn't I push this baby out? Come on Jack! We must have tried six different positions until finally we tried a tug-a-war method and it worked! I'll spare some details but one thing I remember Hunter, mom, Mindy and the nurses repeatedly saying is "look at all of that hair!" 
One more giant push and there he was!! My beautiful baby boy!! I looked at Hunter and he was tearing up. In that moment I have never loved him more. It's my favorite moment we've ever shared. We just brought life into the world! The nurse placed Jack on my chest right away and I knew my life would never be the same. There he was...my son! I was a mama! Hunter cut the umbilical cord and they cleaned him up. I can't put into words everything I was feeling. From that moment on I can't stop smiling whenever I hold my sweet boy. After things calmed down a bit my dad and stepmom stopped to see him and later my brother stopped with pizza. Everyone kept saying he was a mini Hunter and he is!! He is spitting image of his handsome daddy! We had an unexpected week stay at the hospital but we were surrounded by amazing nurses who's generosity and love got us through it. Both of our families were in and out of the hospital visiting us. They were truly our saving grace. The day we got to bring Jack home was the happiest day ever!! A day I never thought would come after being stuck at the hospital for a week. 

Since then our lives have changed for the better. We're no longer just Megan and Hunter. We're Mama and Papa. In two short months Jack has brought us so much joy and laughter. He completes us and makes us feel love we didn't know we were capable of. I love our little family so much. We are who we are because of the families we were raised in. Jack has so much love from all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and great grandparents. We hope to continue the love we were shown growing up. This is only one chapter in a very long book. 

Love, Megan