FOUR little FULTONS: four little swimmers...

Sunday, August 9, 2009

four little swimmers...

I broke down & bought the tribe some "swimmies", aka "floaties". I just could not take one more day of them wanting to swim & not being able to do it. Plus it is rough when they each want mommy to take them out into the pool at the SAME time! LOL! I was told there were some cute ones at of all places our local Dollar Tree. In fact they had a TON of pool stuff! Who would have known?! We are now the proud owners of a pair of "swimmies" in the "Finding Nemo", "Cars" & two with the "Little Mermaid" theme. They were SO happy that they each were going to have their own pair!Once we got home I proceeded to get each of them suited up, slathered on the sun block & put their NEW "swimmies" on. They were READY! At least I thought they were! Avery, our best "swimmer" wanted NO part of them! Camryn & Linz were the only ones willing to wear them! It was quite the experience the very first time they had them on those little arms of theirs. They walked around like it was a piece of jewelry or "bling". TOO funny! Apparently they had NO idea what they were for because the excitement was short lived. Once I showed them how they work they screamed bloody murder like someone was about to kill them! This was NOT the reaction I was looking for! LOL! They had more fun checking out the frog that came to visit! See it!?

I'm telling you that if any of our neighbors were home during this adventure I think they would have called the police thinking something awful had happened. But no it was just the tribe having a MAJOR freak out! It was not until the 2nd time of me wrestling them on them did Camryn realize she would be ok. Linz still wanted no part of being out in the pool on her own. Camryn on the other hand slowly stepped off the last step & floated off into the shallow end of our pool. What a moment to witness! It was AMAZING! I was SO excited for her! She loved it SO much that I actually had to bribe her to get her out! There I was saying I would paint her finger nails just so she would get out of the pool! FYI, Bribery works like a charm! LOL! We had one day with them in our pool then it was off to Grandma's! Hopefully they will like to use them there! Ever since summer arrived we try to take them for a "swim" at least TWICE a day. Even with SPF 70 sun block on they are getting quite the tan! (= Daddy & Grandma took them swimming the entire weekend! The best part was that Daddy was able to get "swimmies" on ALL of the girls. GO DADDY! After some coaxing he was able to get them used to them & from what I am told they now LOVE them! YAY! Our Avery thought she could swim BEFORE "swimmies" just imagine what she thinks now! Funny how a week makes all the difference! (=My how a week changes the whole dynamic! Lindsey ended up showing me a thing or two once we were back in our pool! There she was jumping off the rock into the pool. It was like a flying leap! CRAZY! She also looked adorable in her hand me down "Little Mermaid" swimsuit with her matching "swimmies". Besides NOT being afraid of jumping into the pool she can now swim all over the pool! My mom said we better watch out because now that she knows she can swim WITH the "swimmies" she will probably think she can swim without them! UH OH! Just ANOTHER thing I have to worry about! Avery now does practically everything Lindsey does. I think she saw how easy it was for Lindsey to get out there & use those "swimmies" that she relented and started using them too! Funny how that is with identical "twins". They are SO similar yet different in many ways! Once she realized she was safe she broke free & became a WILD woman! She leaps off the edge into the pool like she has been doing it her entire life! I am SO happy to see them really appreciating our pool! It was once suppose to be my sanctuary & now it is theirs! Before I know it she will be actually swimming! For now, just seeing her "swim" all over the pool, frontwards, backwards, jumping, floating is such a treat!Brendan still wants no part of "swimming". The "swimmies" are definitely NOT his friend! LOL! He is by far our most cautious child. Don't see me complaining since it's one less kid to worry about while we are in the pool. PLUS It gives me more time to snuggle on him when I take him around the pool! For now if he is not in my arms he is just a bystander that remains in the "safe zone" of the steps. One day he will see what all the fuss is about & start exploring the pool like his sisters. I must say that they have become mean little "swimmers" in just a few short days! Pretty soon the "swimmies" will come off & we will have not just have one swimmer but...

four little swimmers...

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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