Our Life Today

For those of you that know me, life has been a little different in the Clark house lately.  Mama has been on bed rest for the past 88 days.  This is no easy task when you have a one and three year old who are used to having their Mama available to them at all times.  People always ask me how I do it.  The answer is really pretty easy.  When you go to a prenatal checkup at 19 weeks pregnant and your doctor looks you straight in the eye and tells you that your baby is not even viable in the outside world and its only shot at survival is for you to follow her plan, well, you follow the damn plan!  Having two children, I knew what I would be missing.  I knew how much I love my babies.  I knew I had to have this baby.  So, I went to bed and I followed the rules.  This was a family sacrifice.  My husband, Matt, stepped up in a big way.  He took over the running of the house and caring of the children without a blink of an eye.  He did what had to be done because he, like me, had to have this baby.  The past 12.5 weeks have been an adventure.  We have had several trips to the labor and delivery triage and two hospital admissions. I've tried every drug possible to calm the contractions without luck.  Some made me incredibly ill, some had no effect.  There have been good days and bad days, hopeful moments and terrifying moments, but through it all- we stuck together.  We remained hopeful.  We prayed as hard as we could.  We put our faith in God, trust in the Dr. and focused on the positive. Guess what?  I'm still pregnant at 31.5 weeks.  We still have a ways to go but this baby will join our family mostly because we have been blessed but partly because we did our part and wanted him so badly.  A couple more weeks on restriction and then I am free to get up and join the real world.  Look out because I have a lot of catching up to do!


This has not been fun and I certainly wouldn't wish this experience on anyone.  That said, I believe things happen in our lives for a reason and shape us into the people we are.  How we handle situations can be a great lesson in life.  My kids are too young to remember this time but I hope when they hear the stories (and trust me,  I will remind them) that they are proud that their parents rose to the occasion and did what needed to be done.  This is also a great time to see who in your life is really in your corner.  Some people let you down and aren't very supportive while others you never imagined will step up and help you out.  There are some new people in my life that I will always be grateful for.  I vow to always try to be the person that will rise to the occasion to help a friend out.  Selflessness and gratitude make the world a better place.

These two cuties are getting a baby brother!