PORT ANGELES — Dale Michael Clairmore Jr. is an unexpected gift at the end of a very emotional year for his parents, Miho Yamaguchi-Clairmore and Dale Clairmore Sr. of Sequim.
Baby Dale arrived at Olympic Medical Center on Wednesday at 7:12 p.m., weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces and measuring 19 inches long — a mere five days after his mother learned she was pregnant.
“He’s our miracle,” Dale said.
Miho, 39, and Dale, 49, formerly of Port Hadlock, were still in shock Thursday afternoon, absorbing the idea that they were parents and doting on the tiny baby boy, who slept peacefully in his father’s arms at the medical center’s birthing center.
“I was told I would never have a baby,” Miho said.
A surgery for ovarian tumors at age 21, which she was told rendered her sterile, was one of several factors that kept the tiny Japanese woman from realizing her growing girth was something other than middle-age bulge.
Dale’s daughter had died as a young teen, and he never expected to have another child.
“I’m approaching 50,” said the former firefighter.
“This is not how I planned my life.”
The two have been together as a couple for seven years and were friends before that after they met as employees at 7 Cedars Casino.
They married in July 2010 and moved to Sequim.
The baby’s surprise arrival capped a year of tragedy for the Clairmores.
Dale said their terrible year began in early 2011 with a phone call from the Port Townsend Police Department telling him his estranged mother was in the hospital after suffering injuries and could no longer stay with her former caregiver.
The couple had not seen her for five years.
“Mom didn’t like Miho because she was Japanese,” Dale said.
Dale and Miho returned to Port Townsend to care for her.
Then the older woman was diagnosed with cancer.
During that year, Miho and her mother-in-law repaired their relationship, becoming close friends, Dale said.
Dale’s mother died in December, leaving Dale and Miho without a place to live, so they moved to Sequim to share a home with Dale’s brother.
Miho complained about exhaustion and “getting fat,” Dale said.
The couple said they put the symptoms down to the stress of the past year until last week when “weird feelings” and other symptoms finally sent Miho to a doctor.
There she got the shock of her life: She was pregnant, with an estimated due date only a few weeks away.
“I haven’t been able to wrap my head around the last year, then this happened,” Dale said.
Five days later, before the couple could get over the shock, Miho went into labor.
“It was, ‘Surprise, honey, we’re going to have a baby,’ then, ‘Surprise, honey, we’re going now,’” Miho said.
The shock and joy got the best of the new father just after baby Dale was born, said Angie Graff, OMC director of obstetrics, who was present during the birth
Dale said he doesn’t remember saying it, but Miho said she remembers hearing it.
“He said, ‘Look, you did such a good job, we get to take him home,’” Graff said.
Dale laughed and said he didn’t remember it but wasn’t surprised.
The couple planned to take their son back to Dale’s brother’s home Friday, Dale said.
Friends from 7 Cedars have been dropping diapers and baby clothes off at their room.
There is no nursery waiting, only a few items given to them by their friends.
“We haven’t had time,” Dale said.
“We’re not really prepared to have him.”
On Thursday, Dale held his son close, staring into the sleeping baby’s face and threatening to not let Miho even change diapers.
“I would even breast feed him if I could, but I lack the equipment,” Dale joked.
“I love just being able to snuggle up with my son”
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
