FOUR little FULTONS: dreams...

Friday, January 9, 2009

dreams...

Lately I have been dreaming ALOT! I do not know why just that I attribute it to getting MORE sleep. I need that! Anyhow, Last night I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that Michael, Dustyn, my Mom, the babies & I all were on a trip where we rented a house. I have no idea where this house was just that it was some place warm. Somehow I had just Camryn with me, I know you all will say that is because she is my favorite, but that is not true! She was just with me & we needed to go back to "our" house to get some things before we met up with the rest of my clan. I remember thinking to myself that everyone was some place else so the house would be empty. I unlock the door and start towards the bedroom when I hear a noise like someone is there. Then I look up & there in the doorway stood my father, my deceased father. Now you need to know for approximately 6 years before his death my father was in a wheelchair. He had a paralyzed right arm and only stood up when he walked to and from the front door, car, shower, etc. In this dream he was not in a wheelchair or sick at all, he was getting changed for dinner & then proceeded to ask me where all my children were. I think my mouth was gaped open from being stunned to see him there because all I said was that Camryn is here. Then the dream gets EVEN weirder. His right arm was the size of a childs but worked & was good as new. I told you it was a weird dream! I stood there watching my child, the one that looks most like him, in his arms, giggling and saying "Hi Grand Dad". I was in awe! I always tell my children that he is around them. I do not want them to forgot the short time they did have with him so I continually ask them to tell me where he is. They will point up to Heaven or to their hearts, you see he is in their hearts. When I woke up I was really amazed that I even remembered it. My father passed away 16 months ago. I mean what does it all mean? They say that dreams NEVER mean what they seem. In my mind this dream sort of represented what I think my children missed out on, a Grand Dad that they will have memories with. All I have these days are...

dreams...

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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