Absolutely, the TOUGHEST Month of my Life….

January 5, 2007 a bittersweet day that I will never, no never, forget. It was a day of celebration because we had made it to the vital goal of 28 weeks. A day that we had counted down week by week every Friday…. 10 more weeks until 28, 3 more weeks ’til 28, 2 more days ’til 28!!!…..You see at 28 weeks, a singleton baby has a 90% survival rate. It’s a huge milestone especially for quads (average gestation is 29.5 weeks) – and although we knew we wanted to make it much farther it was a reality of “Wow, we just may bring babies home”.

Because we conquered this milestone, we chose to move-in to St. Vincent Women’s Hospital for the duration of the pregnancy so that Brooks and Clark (our monoamniotic trouble makers) could be monitored and delivered if their lives were determined to suddenly be in grave danger. It gave us such peace of mind to know that the NICU was on alert for our boys’ arrival. As Brad calls it, “The day the whale checked into the aquarium”. Check it out…I think he’s got a point!!!

I was standing in front of my calendar that Brad made me to count down each day. I “X”ed out each day as it ended (usually right at midnight as my monitoring session ended). If you came for a visit you probably signed your name on the date you visited. We look forward to sharing it with the boys someday.

Leaving the comforts of home was so tough. I took for granted so many things…my own bed, my bathtub, sleeping next to my husband, home meals, sunlight, not being connected to monitors 4-5 hours a day, etc. I really can’t explain how painful and uncomfortable it is to have 4 babies cramped inside of you and your body fighting so hard to breathe and function. It’s the equivalent of the 100 yard dash only it continues over and over. Many people ask me how in the world I survived 32 weeks of a quad pregnancy and my answer is “only by the grace of God”.

1/10 of my year was spent at my address at Township Line Rd – (and did you know that my husband spent every single night either on the floor, on a leaky air mattress, or on a pull-out chair – What a CHAMP!) and we are so grateful for everyday that we were able to cross off the calendar.

I’m thinking THIS January is bound to be more enjoyable!