FOUR little FULTONS: our monkeys at the zoo....

Thursday, September 18, 2008

our monkeys at the zoo....

We took our little munchkins to the "Palm Beach Zoo" this past summer. It was a HOT day but went anyway's. Luckily there is plenty of shaded areas & even a fountain for the little one's to play in. FYI in Florida you need activities to cool off in!! So many people told me aboutthe zoo but I thought it would be WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for us to go. Then I was told about the annual pass. I never even thought of buying a annual pass to the zoo. Annual passes, What are they?? Well it turned out to be the best thing we ever did! Saved us a TON of money! Dustyn shared in their first zoo experience. We all had a blast! Seeing 4 babies all the same age is always a spectacle especially in their stroller, aka "BIG BLUE". Dustyn says don't make eye contact so we do not get distracted. Funny how you learn that. I am glad that we have it but I cannot wait to not HAVE to use it. They just LOVED the zoo. There were alligators, flamingo's, Lions, Tigers, Zebra's, the list goes on & on. Daddy showed them the Reptiles, his favorite area! I wanted them to see the monkey exhibit. Let them see them jump from tree to tree. I ALWAY'S wanted to have a monkey for a pet when I was little! I wanted to dress one up as a ballerina. Don't ask me why maybe I saw one on TV or something. Needless to say I never got one. Now I have these 4 monkey's to occupy my time. They are just as mischievous & funny as the one's at the zoo! LOL!
I took their picture in front of the main entrance. I should say that I took about 8 pictures until I found one that came out halfway decent! My children never seem to oblige me when it comes to picture taking. They must get that from their father! He is not a picture person like me!! I am just going to have to train them!! haha!

I just love this picture of Camryn. I especially LOVE the pig tails! Do you know how long it took for her hair to get long enough for pig tails!? A LONG time!! This is why I will not cut it. I want to be able to have more pictures like this!! Thankfully she allows me to put her hair in pig tails & does not take them out!! (= PLUS she LOVES to pose for pictures! Mommy LOVES that!! YAY!

Here is a photo of our CLAN from that day. This is a RARE shot since most of my family, lets just say it, the men, do not like having their pictures taken! I MADE them pose for this as a gracious zoo goer took it. THANK YOU!! The things I have to do just to capture a moment in our life. I'd do it all again just to see....

our monkeys at the zoo....

Our Story...

Ok I am now over 8 years into this "job" of mine, being a mommy to multiples, high order multiples to boot! They say that if you try to conceive without protection for one year with no success then you are infertile. Those words were a lot to take in. I sought answers from everyone. We started out with our 1st OB/GYN Dr William Casale doing the normal testing that they were equipped to do. We did it all, IUI's, spermwashing, etc. I then contacted RESOLVE, a wonderful organization for people like me (could not get pregnant). I started making mental notes of what I needed to achieve my dream, to be a mom! The next step was to go see a Fertility Doctor. We chose to see Dr Mark Denker. After checking me out he then referred Michael to see a Urologist who ended up putting him on clomid. Yes, men can take this RX too! It helps make more sperm just like it helps a woman create more follicles. It is AMAZING the things you learn when you are trying to conceive! After further testing we were both told we had fertility issues, I had fewer eggs than a woman my age & they were "tough", Michael had double vericasils so that in order for us to have the "best odds" we needed to go the IVF route. I had this feeling that it was not going to work right away, call it my intuition. So we bought a package, can you even believe that they sell "packages" like a travel agency? Our "package" included 3 rounds of IVF with ICSI, minus all the meds I would need. The drugs are an expense we did not even think of but had to purchase for this entire thing to work. Well, it ended up taking all 3 rounds of IVF & accupuncture courtesy of Dr Susan Schiff for me to get pregnant & boy did I get pregnant! (Trust your intuition!) We started out with very few follicles, only 3 fertilized into embryo's and all three took. I was finally pregnant! 8 weeks into my pregnancy one of the embryo's split & became identical. Can you believe that!? What are the odds? No one told me that could happen! AMAZING! We had a lot of decisions to make. No one thought that we should keep all four. In the medical world it is called a "selective reduction". Only a few doctors even do this procedure. We did not know what our future would hold just that we could not reduce anything! In the beginning we had a hard time finding a doctor that felt like we did & wanted our four babies to thrive! We finally found Dr Moises Virelles, a fellow Christian & my now OB/GYN. He then referred us to an AWESOME Perinatologist, Dr Gary Cohen. Having the two of them on our side we knew ANYTHING was possible! My pregnancy was really uneventful. I was put on "bed rest" at 22 weeks. I later found out my "bed rest" was unlike other women's bed rest. I was just not allowed to work. I continued to do things, just stayed off my feet as much as possible. If I went shopping I would ride a motorized scooter. If I went to a party I sat pretty much the entire time. I had no issues, my cervix was long & rock solid. I really feel that God wanted me to be a mommy! The babies were great! They kicked each other more than they kicked me! People would look at me & could not believe that I had four babies inside me, I tell you I was meant to carry quads! Now don't get me wrong, it was not a joy ride, I was miserable towards the end & felt it very difficult to breathe. I never even went into the hospital prior to January 15th. Even though I asked them to admit me MANY times!! On January 17, 2007 we welcomed our GBGG quads; Camryn, Brendan, Avery & Lindsey into this world. 1 set is fraternal & 1 set is identical. They weighed 4 lb 7 oz, 4 lb 4 oz, 3 lb 6 oz & 3 lb 3 oz. I made it 32 weeks 5 days when I delivered them at St Mary's Medical Center. They were all HEALTHY and they did not need to be intubated! WOO HOO! They were little miracles destined to be here! I had nurses come up to me & tell me how wonderful it was that I carried them so long, that it was a better gift holding onto them as long as I did than a Harvard education! WOW! We were SO happy, excited & most of all unprepared for how much our life was about to change. I will say it was a GOOD change! I cannot imagine my life without them! Everyone watches our little ones in amazement & they still do. This is their story....

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