FOUR little FULTONS: old traditions run deep...

Monday, November 24, 2008

old traditions run deep...

When I was a kid we, my entire family on my mom's side, would gather together at a local park EVERY holiday. Most of all on Thanksgiving. We had SO much fun having turkey & all the fixin's out in the wilderness. Ok it was not exactly the wilderness but we were outside under a pavillion in an extremely wooded park. This was the COOLEST park around & I was able to spend time with my relatives. This tradition lasted till I was about 18 years old. The extended family got SO large, the children started getting jobs & some even got married so we stopped doing it all together. I know, I was sad too! Fast forward many moons later & we sort of re created this tradition when I got married for our wedding rehearsal/BBQ. We, the cousins, realized how much fun it was so we decided to start the tradition up again for Thanksgiving. YAY! This will be our 3rd Re-Anniversary for Thanksgiving at the park. We invite our in-laws, friends, friends of friends, etc. Let's just say it is quite the party. Our family has grown a lot & a lot of my 2nd cousins have babies my childrens age. (I started mommyhood late!) Can I tell you how YUMMY the food is!? So many different types of fixin's that it ends up being a smorgasboard of food! Our little one's are just at the age to enjoy it. This park has nature trails, a tunnel that takes you out to the beach & it used to have an observation deck in which we thought took forever to get to. That must be looking at things through a childs eyes. The many hurricanes & years of use have taken it's toll & it is no longer in use. It was SO cool! From the top you could see the ocean through the trees or the boats in the intracoastal. Don't get me wrong, the park is still cool it would just be cooler is the observation deck was still open. I cannot wait for Turkey day! We are going to have such a fun time. I am SO thankful that...

old traditions run deep...

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....

Blog Archive

These words & pictures are MINE & MINE alone