My Angel Jack  

 Meet Jack Ryan Clark!

Jack's story

It was an uneventful pregnancy, to say the least…I walked around in an ignorant state if bliss…my AFP Quad Screen was negative.  (Of course it was!)  My ultrasound was fine (Once again, of course!)…I was 30 years old, pregnant with my second child…a boy…we would name him Jack Ryan…life was good…

I went 42 weeks with my daughter.  Determined not to let that happen again, I scheduled Jack’s induction at 39 weeks.  On the morning of April 7, 2006, my husband and I drove to the hospital to welcome our little guy into the family…couldn’t wait!  We were so excited!  After seven hours of easy labor (I soooo had the epidural as fast as they could give it to me!) and just ONE (yes, be jealous…I said one) push, Jack Ryan Clark made his grand entrance into the world…beautiful, healthy, and all ours…he was 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 19 inches long.  He had his daddy’s eyes, his sister’s nose and chin, and my olive skin.  He was just gorgeous…a definite Clark!  We were elated!

I spent the normal two days in the hospital…everything was checking out fine with my boy.  I remember just staring at him endlessly, taking in every second.  The morning I was getting ready to leave the hospital, the on-call pediatrician came in to check on Jack.  She checked him head to toe, walked out, then she walked back in again and asked, “Does he have his dad’s eyes?”  Uhhhhhhh, I guess. Why? “Well, I don’t think it’s anything…I actually wasn’t even going to say anything, but the shape of his eyes is sometimes a sign of certain conditions, but I checked everything else and I don’t see any other signs.  We can do a blood test if you want to rule it out.  It’s up to you.” 

WTF????????????  OK, that went right over my head…certain conditions?  Like what?  Down syndrome?  Wasn’t I tested for that?  Wasn’t my Ultrasound totally fine?  I’m only 30!!!  He doesn’t look like it to me or obviously my OB who delivered him or the nurses who have been here for two days…He’s alert, healthy, delivered on time, has passed every test, had a good apgar…what are you telling me?

“Like I said, I really DO NOT think your son has Down syndrome…I just noticed his eyes and if it were me, I’d want to rule it out.  It will take two weeks to get the results, so just go home with your perfect baby and don’t even think about it.”

OK, blood pressure just went up…where is my husband????  Yeah, I guess go do the test…I’ll go home and won’t even think about the fact that you suspect my son has Down syndrome…yeah, OK, I’ll get right on that…

Two weeks later, we got the call…the geneticist confirmed the diagnosis of Down syndrome, or more specifically non-disjunction Trisomy 21.  We were shocked…that was putting it mildly.  We even went in for a check-up during the week prior, saw the same pediatrician who ordered the test in the first place, who said after checking him out again, and I quote, “I do not expect the test to come back as anything but normal.”  Her words…exactly. 

The test results came on a Friday evening via phone call from my pediatrician.  I don’t remember much…just that I was in a state of disbelief.  I kept saying, I don’t understand…over and over.  My husband took the phone next…So what does this mean for our boy?  We wept…because we didn’t know.  We had NO CLUE what was in store for our son…only that we loved him more than life itself.  We were terrified for his future…if we only knew then what we know now.  It took two days of serious grieving the unknown to get on with it…to get on with our lives and move forward.  We knew the most important thing from the beginning…this was our son, we loved him unconditionally, and he was going to get the best life we could give him no matter what…

…and so the story began…an amazingly wonderful story, one that we never could have expected or imagined with our beautiful angel Jack.  Our journey is chronicled on our family blog at www.clarklovenotes.blogspot.com. You can also see his life in pictures here.  I can say with certainty that our lives have only gotten richer and fuller with Jack in our lives…I am so blessed.

My Vision

Since my baby boy was born, I have had a vision to create a website about my little man for new and expectant parents of children diagnosed with Down Syndrome.  I wanted a place that parents could go for hope and encouragement…a place to see that life is more normal than not, life is good.  I wanted a place that had the best and most up-to-date support, resources and information about Down Syndrome.  I wanted a place that chronicled our amazing journey as well as Jack’s development through pictures, videos and stories…so I have left no stone unturned, and the result is what you see here. Welcome to my website…MyAngelJack.com where hope is alive and well.  Enjoy!