FOUR little FULTONS: four

Thursday, June 3, 2010

what would you do?...

When we, ok I, decided that the tribe needed to attend preschool I never thought twice about splitting the foursome up. I knew that in order for them to thrive they needed NEW experiences separate from one another. I then thought I would not stick it to the same teacher to by having both Avery & Lindsey in their class so I split them up. From the beginning it worked out really good. Which two would be in the same class was an easy decision since Linz takes care of Brendan so I put them in the same class. I would hear all kinds of stuff from each of them when I picked them up. Who they sat next to, who they played with, I even heard who Brendan thought was his "girlfriend". Yes at the ripe 'ol age of three he has a found himself a girlfriend! He talks about her, Olivia, a lot! I think she is the first girl outside of his sisters that he has really gotten to know. It just melts my heart that my little man has a girlfriend!! [=

Since the tribe has only attended school for just under two months I feel that I am still learning the ropes. There is just SO much to remember when there are FOUR kids to keep up with. FOUR lunches, FOUR back packs, FOUR crib sheets & FOUR blankets to put in those back packs. Then there's the Pull Ups, Pull Ups & even more Pull Ups. {still NOT potty trained} Oh and the FOUR folders to check with all of their "stuff" in it! I never really paid attention to how different the class crafts are until Mother's Day. You see Bren & Linz came home with presents for me, but Cam & Aave did not. Not that I needed any gifts but the thought was SUPER sweet! Can't help to notice the excitement in your childs eyes when they hand you something they made just for you! As I opened the presents Cam & Aave wanted to know where their gift for me was. I felt bad because that was when I realized what putting them in different classes would mean, different "stuff". I never even thought of that! I thought everything would be the same! I don't think the school ever thought about this either. I do love the arrangement we have now but I wonder if it was the right thing to do. Is there a life lesson in this? Should I leave things alone? or should I say something?...

What would you 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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