The day that changed our lives forever.....

Pics: Daddy and Emma hanging out. Kendall and Brandi. Clark in his cute baseball hat. Emma and Kim (not mommy, but a baby helper who is like family to us now).

It was one year ago - TODAY - that Troy and I went to see Dr. Harris to try again to get pregnant by way of an IUI (intrauterine insemination). For those of you who don't know, Troy and I tried to get pregnant for almost three years. During that time, we had a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy. We were going into this procedure as our third try with this doctor. (We had been with a different dr and gone through the process about 5 times before we switched to a new fertility specialist.)

Anyway, we went through MANY rounds of various fertility drugs, some were oral and some were injectibles. During this particular try, we got our drugs from Europe because the drugs in America are so much more expensive (that is a rant for another time). Troy also had to give me progesterone injections as another part of the process as well. Needless to say, we were both over needles by the time these babies arrived. I had quit drinking alcohol and caffeine. I didn't eat tuna fish (usually). I didn't lift heavy things. I did everything to make my body work the way it needed to - as the "perfect embryo hostess". I wanted to be sure that if I DID get pregnant, I had the best shot at carrying the baby to term. We had been through a big emotional drain after the last try ended in an ectopic pregnancy. We were heartbroken and about to give up on it completely. I don't know that we ever "said" it, but I think this would have been my last attempt. I was physically and emotionally done. And it is also a very big financial drain considering that most health insurance plans (including ours) do not cover fertility treatments. So, I think that I had decided (in my own mind) that if this didn't work, we would have to do something else - adoption, maybe.

So, at this time last year, we were at home wondering if this would be "our time"....? Would we end up pregnant? And, if so, could I carry the baby (THE baby - as in just one) to term? And would everything be OK (since I'm AMA - advanced maternal age - there are a number of additional risks to consider)? How would we stand the wait for two weeks until we would find out? Would we be good parents? What would we do next if this didn't work? Where would we go if it didn't work (because we would definitely be taking a trip somewhere to recover)?

Did we have ANY idea that my body was already busy making THREE incredible beings that would become the best things to ever happen to either of us?!?!?!? Nope. We went into the process just wanting to be parents. We just wanted A baby. One baby. Were there risks of multiples due to the fertility drugs? Yes. But what were the odds? Up until then, we had only been pregnant twice and both times were just singletons (from what we know). We had been told that yes, there was a chance - less than 1%, I believe - that we could get more than two. I think it was a 25% chance for twins and we were OK with that.

Funny thing that we remember about when we went to find out if we were really pregnant. It had been two weeks and I had multiple blood draws to check my Hcg levels (the pregnancy hormone). My level was increasing (good) and it was increasing quickly (good again, but it meant more). We found out that this could just be "normal". We could be pregnant with one and things were going great since the levels were rising. Or we could be pregnant with more than one. At the time, the nurse only really mentioned twins. They didn't really think that the numbers were THAT high to indicate more than one. Well, the night before our ultrasound, Troy and I were discussing how we didn't want to be disappointed if there was ONLY ONE. We sort of had our hopes up for twins and didn't want to seem ungrateful if we were pregnant with one. Can you imagine the surprise when Dr. Harris was showing us the little blobs on the ultrasound screen and said "There's Baby A. And there's Baby B. Oh my, and there's Baby C." ?!?!?!?!? Troy clutched my arm. I didn't know what to do. My mind was spinning. I was already excited and scared all at the same time. THREE BABIES. Wow. But once it sank in, we realized that it couldn't be more perfect. After all we went through to get here, we were having triplets!

We really had absolutely NO idea how much that particular event on that particular day - June 18th - would change our lives. And oh, how wonderful are they?!?!?! I mean, yes, we are tired - REALLY tired. And yes, they do cry - yup, again, REALLY cry. But they are just so incredible. And to think of where we were one year ago today. There were cells just multiplying like crazy at this time last year. Wow. We are SO blessed. God gave us such an amazing gift. Thanks for sharing in our happiness.