CALEDONIA, Mich. — A Caledonia family of four had a stroke of luck on St. Patrick's Day, welcoming the first girl to the family in a very long time.
Carolyn Clark of Caledonia knew what she was getting into when she married her husband, Andrew, 10 years ago.
“He was like, 'Oh, we don't we don't have girls.' And I'm like, 'okay,' like, I thought he was just messing with me," said Carolyn.
He was serious, though. Andrew’s family hasn’t had a daughter since 1885. His father all the way to his great, great grandfather have only had sons.
With the odds stacked against her, Carolyn was set on being the ones to break the daughter drought.
“When we decided to start growing our family, I just was like, 'I'm going to try for it,'" said Carolyn, "I want the girl."
They had a son, four-year-old Cameron, but Carolyn was still seeing pink.
She and Andrew tried again, but there were some roadblocks in the way this time.
"It was January 2021, when we had a miscarriage, our second one," explained Carolyn.
Fifteen months later, though, it was good news. They were expecting once again.
“We were just, like, overwhelmed with joy," said Carolyn.
They held a gender reveal party in their living room where all their friends and family were given cookies filled with either blue or pink frosting.
“We did a countdown," she explained, "and we all took a bite.”
They held their breath as they waited to see the color.
“Everyone was just screaming and jumping in in disbelief, honestly," smiled Carolyn.
It was pink.
“It made it really hard to come up with names because we’ve never thought of girl ones before," said Andrew.
The disbelief continued through the whole pregnancy.
“I think every ultrasound she was like, 'double check that it's a girl. I don't believe in it,'" he said.
Cameron was born three days before Christmas. To avoid another holiday baby, they chose to induce on March 16 this time around.
“Clearly, she had other plans," laughed Carolyn.
Audrey Marie Clark, a rainbow baby, was born on Saint Patrick's Day 2023.
“It was just joy, you know, just that she was here and healthy," said Carolyn. “It made it even more special that it was a girl because it was like, you were worth the wait and all the struggles.”
The new baby girl with a name meaning strength, broke the 138-year boy streak — and they think she is the cutest little lucky charm under the rainbow.
“I got my girl," smiled Carolyn.
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