FOUR little FULTONS: Momma needs a new "do"...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Momma needs a new "do"...

This is new for me, taking care of ME. I always seem to do for others especially the kids instead of me! I rarely spend any money on me. If there is new clothes or shoes to buy it is for the kids. It's weird because BEFORE kids things were so different! Funny how that happens! LOL! Once I became a Momma my needs changed. Their needs became my needs. I never would have imagined that I'd clean up another persons bodily fluids without a second thought! That I'd care so much about things, whether they did or didn't poop1? hahah! That they'd wipe their boogers on me & I would not get completely grossed out. Yes it is gross but not as gross as if it were a STRANGER doing it! Weird how that works! And most of all I never would have thought that my needs would be thrown out the window. AMAZING! So for me to actually think of myself for once is hard to fathom. You see we are going away for a family wedding & my hubby said why don't you go get your hair done. SO sweet of him to suggest it but even harder for me to actually do it. I have never been a "spa" girl. Don't get me wrong I LOVE to get pampered but not on a regular basis. I LOVE LOVE LOVE a good massage but getting my hair & nails done has never been something I "liked" doing. It was sort of out of habit. I do it out of necessity. Years ago when we were trying to get pregnant I felt liberated when I made the decision not to have the expense of getting my nails done. No more standing appointment, it was nice! There were better ways to spend our money namely a baby! I ended up growing my hair out because I hated the up keep of a short "do". I couldn't do it! TOO much time & money spent on something so short term! Then once we had the kids & started watching our money all things seemed just frivilous! I could see SO many other things that I could spend the money on so it was a tough decision! I figured that since it was in December when I last had my hair done it was time...

Momma needs a new "do"...

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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