The Triplet's Birthday

About eight years ago, I had convinced Doug that Ethan (our oldest) shouldn't be an only child. We knew that getting pregnant was a long shot but we decided to give it a try. Of course, I had to go on a "cocktail" of fertility drugs and after 8 or 9 months of being a complete nut case, we decided that we'd give it a rest and try for artificial insemination or something like that after we'd saved up for it. Doug was not too disappointed because not only would he not have to deal with a psychotic wife, but he really didn't want to have anymore children. That was in October 2000. In January 2001, I became extremely ill. I could not hold down any kind of food or liquid and basically camped out in my bathroom. I had to put an 18 month old Ethan in the bath tub to play while I threw up into the camode. I hoped and prayed that I was pregnant, so I took a drug store test and sure enough, it was positive.

However, I was really sick which worried my doctor, so he had me come in for a visit where he hooked me up to an IV for HOURS because I was so dehydrated. He confirmed I was pregnant but wanted to do an ultra sound to make sure everything was ok. He was extremely concerned at how violently ill I was.

We knew all the risks of fertility. We knew I could develop cysts or tumors and a myriad of other things. So when I saw these three little blobs on the ultra sound screen, I was certain I had tumors. The doctor was scaring the crap out of us because he was being all technical, which he normally wasn't, and then he left the room to get a nurse and consult with another doctor. I was positive something was wrong. He came back into the room and I asked if I was dying or something. He said no but we had to discuss something serious. He pointed to the three little blobs. "Those are yoke sacks," he said. I had no clue what a yoke sack was but when I looked closer at the screen, I noticed that the little blobs were pulsing. "Those are hearts," he said. So, I didn't have tumors. "You're going to have three babies." HOLY CRAP!

I started to cry. I knew there was the possibility of having multiple births, but I had NEVER thought it could happen. I was also crying because I knew Doug didn't want more kids. One baby he could handle but THREE? Then I looked over at him. He was beaming and said "This is so cool!!"

My doctor wanted me to seriously consider "selective reduction." He did not think it was wise for me to try to have all three babies. He told me they would probably not be healthy if they survived. Doug and I thought about it but we knew we had to have these babies and we'd deal with whatever we had to. But I had waited and prayed to have another baby and here we were, blessed with THREE!

The next several months were CRAZY! We were having TRIPLETS!! I was due in September, but by March I looked like I was seven months pregnant. By May I was having regular and painful contractions and was sent to the hospital several times. In early June I went into premature labor and was life flighted from Logan Regional to McKay Dee in Ogden where I stayed for almost seven weeks. I was only able to get out of bed to use the bathroom and to shower (with a nurse waiting outside my door.) I was also able to take brief wheelchair rides around the hospital grounds.

On July 18, my SIX doctors assured my husband, parents and grandmother that I was stable and would most likely not deliver until the 21st when I was scheduled for a C-section. So Doug went home to spend time with Ethan, my parents went back to Idaho to check on their business and pack some new clothes and my grandmother decided to actually attend her Temple Square mission which she had been neglecting for my sake. Two of my doctors went on vacation.

That night, despite pain medication, I could not sleep because my back hurt so bad. At about 6:00 the next morning, the attending physician felt prompted to check on me, even though he knew I was stable. I was sitting up in a chair, bawling because I was in so much pain. He told me to lay down, grabbed a nurse and quickly checked me. I was dilated to a 7. I had been in back labor for several hours and didn't even know it!

At 8:01 am on July 19, 2001 Garrett James entered the world weighing 4 lbs 2 oz. He had been stuck in the birth canal and was bruised and deprived of oxygen. I was not able to see him until much later when I was told he would most likely not make it thru the night.

At 8:02 Chase Richard was born weighing 4 lbs. He cried a little and I was able to see him for only a second.

Then at 8:03 Mckenzie was literally dug out of my rib cage. She entered the world folded in half, her ankles by her ears! She weighed 3 lbs 10 oz and screamed like crazy.

Doug got to the hospital at 8:15. My grandmother made it there at 9:00 am and my parents were there by 11:00am. I had been alone with a strange doctor and two nurses I didn't know!!

The next 48 hours we had to endure the agony of not being able to touch Garrett and Chase. Mckenzie was a trooper, she never had to be intabated and she was off oxygen and in an open crib in 24 hours. In the meantime, we were bombarded with all the things that could be wrong with our boys if they survived. Brain bleeds, mental retardation, blindness, deafness, autism, cerebral palsy, and a myriad of other handicaps. But the boys pulled through! Garrett struggled for days, until one day they provoked him to cry (to expand his lungs) but he would not stop crying (which was bad) so they let me reach into his incubator to touch him. He settled down after a few minutes. After that, the doctors decided that I should be able to touch him regularly and Garrett improved dramatically! Chase made slow, but steady progress from day one. We were able to hold him after a couple days and after that, he improved a lot. They were in open cribs 10 days later and we were able to take all three of them home after 3 weeks! It was a true miracle.

We have been lucky! Mckenzie had serious reflux until she was about 18 months old. Garrett had agonizing constipation problems that he still struggles with. Chase has had some physical delays and speech problems but all in all they are healthy, active and MINE!

My favorite memory of them is that when they were tiny, they slept in one crib. We were space them evenly in the crib , wrapped like burritos, but by the time they woke up for a feeding, they had somehow gravitated towards each other and would be sleeping on top of each other like puppies! We never knew how they did it. To this day, Garrett and Chase will go to sleep in their own beds but when I go to wake them up in the morning, they are sleeping together!

Happy Birthday to my SEVEN year olds!!