FOUR little FULTONS: unplug me!...

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

unplug me!...

These past few days/weeks have been quite the adventure in our household. It all started on a Friday afternoon with one BIG poop. I know, TMI but it's the truth! I'm truly sorry to be so graphic but that was the last time we saw a normal BM from Brendan. You see after that poop we were visited by the diarrhea monster. He was unfriendly, mean & downright DISGUSTING! Everything went downhill from there. Bren started with a low grade fever & decided he did not want to eat but the good stuff began on Sunday. Yes the vomit began! Fortunately for me I was at work so Daddy had to clean up both poop & vomit! (Remember we made a pact LONG ago that I was poop & he was vomit! He was NOT happy!) A call to the Pediatrician was in order & by dinnertime it was determined he needed to go to the ER ASAP! So my dinner break turned into sick leave & off we went to the ER! His fever went from low grade to over 103 (YIKES!) & we was VERY dehydrated! They started him on fluids right away. Getting fluids means an IV which he was NOT happy about in the least! Besides the IV they needed blood work. Again he was NOT happy! I think they tested him for EVERY virus there was & they all came back negative! We really thought it was rotovirus by the way his poop stunk! P U! By the end of the evening they decided to admit him because his infection level was high & his sodium level was really low. So off to the PICU we went. I was NOT prepared to be staying overnight.

The nurses were nice & took good care of Bren but my bed was NOT comfy in the least!! I think I got 4 hours sleep cumulatively & then I was awoken by a resident to answer a questionaire! Let's just say it was a ROUGH night! I think we went through about 8 diapers overnight. The poor kid had the runs & if there was a drop of it he wanted that diaper OFF! He still had issues drinking (vomited again) & eating so the IV remained PLUS he had a high fever yet again. They decided he needed to stay over another night so Michael swapped places with me. I went back to Grandma's & he stayed there with Bren. By this time they moved him from the PICU to Ped's where his room had 2 comfy bed's, one for Bren & one for Daddy. Where was that bed when I needed it?! LOL! Taking care of the girls was no piece of cake because as many already know having an odd numbered amount of kids makes things VERY hectic! Someone is ALWAYS ticking someone off & girls love DRAMA! I wanted to swap back with Daddy but of course he knew a good deal when he saw one & stayed!! =] Brendan's ER visit turned into a 3 day hospital stay! He went from having the runs & not drinking, to drinking some Gatorade to eating off the BRAT diet which then turned into an AG diet. He was FINALLY freed two weeks ago this Wednesday & they granted his wish to...

unplug me!...

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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