FOUR little FULTONS: Our future news anchor...

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Our future news anchor...

Last night we had the good fortune to help out an AMAZING place, The Quantum House. This was our home away from home when the babies were born. They provided a warm, clean bedroom for Michael, Dustyn & I as well as my mom & niece Lauren to stay in the 10 days after I left the hospital. The Quantum House is located on the campus of St Mary's Medical Center, where the babies stayed in their NICU for 14 days. Last night they held their 3rd Annual Holiday Hope Drive telethon on local WPBF-TV 25. They interviewed us for a LIVE segment that aired during the 6 O'Clock news. Scary I know but we did it. I would pretty much do anything for them & everyone else that have helped us in this journey. I must say that the babies were actually very good. First we went into the "green" room, yes there really is a room named that. We sat there & fed the babies some food so they had something in their belly since it was dinner time. After a short while they brought us in to the telethon room. We saw SO many familiar faces once we entered the room. They had several NICU nurses manning the phones! It was great seeing everyone again! The room was bright & they made it very cheery & festive with snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. Our children thought the snowflakes were stars! That just shows you what native floridians know, stars not snow! ha! They let us hang out a bit before our interview so the babies would get used to the room, the people & especially the cameras. They handled it all like pro's. They are SO used to having people look at them that I am sure this was nothing to them. Little did they realize that they would be on TV, LIVE during a newscast. I think we were more nervous than they were! They did AWESOME! I think they liked having the camera in their faces capturing their every move. They even thought the microphone was a toy! Camryn grabbed it when the newswoman was not looking & started acting like she was doing the interview. TOO cute! I did not have my camera on me so I hope to get a copy of that shot! Most of all I hope our small part in this telethon helped them raise some BIG funds! They help SO many people that any donation they receive helps! So when you are considering a good charity to donate to this Christmas please think of them and...

www.quantumhouse.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.one_event&content_id=151 - 21k -

our future news anchor...

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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