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We struggled with infertility
for a 18 months before getting pregnant with Graysen. After having Graysen, we
always thought that our next attempt at having a child would be much easier. Unfortunately,
we struggled for over three years with infertility the second time around, and spent lots of time and money pursuing our second
child through every method imaginable. At the beginning of 2005, we had exhausted
all options except in-vitro fertilization (IVF). At that time, we made two big
decisions. The first was to make our last attempt at having another child before opting for adoption and the other was
to prepare for a larger family by putting our house up for sale. We spent weeks
preparing for IVF. Rachel had to receive shots daily and had doctor’s appointments
every couple of days to ensure that her body was responding as needed and that the eggs were developing properly. We were scheduled for the procedure on April 21 at a highly recommended clinic in Tennessee.
We arranged for child care for Graysen, JJ took time off from work, and we left on April 20 to travel to Tennessee. The procedure was scheduled for
9AM, but at 7:30 AM on the day of the procedure, the unthinkable happened. We
received a phone call from the clinic informing us that there was a problem. The
only embryologist at the clinic had been taken to the emergency room and would be unavailable to perform the procedure. We were devastated to learn that there was no backup plan, and our cycle was canceled.
However, on May
4th, 2005, much to our surprise, we learned that Rachel had once again become pregnant. We were ecstatic! Three days later, more great news; we received
an offer on our house. As the days went by and hormone levels increased dramatically,
we became concerned at the thought of how many babies there may be. A week later,
Rachel learned during an ultrasound that there were three embryos...triplets! I
accompanied her to the next appointment the following week where we were surprised yet again with news of a fourth embryo
making quadruplets. Needless to say, we were wary of scheduling another appointment!!!
After the initial
shock wore off, we have been able to see that the quads are God's will for us. We now see why we had to wait so
long between Graysen and the next pregnancy. God knew that we would need help, so he waited until Graysen was old enough
to start helping out. She loves babies and is very gentle around them. In March of this year, my brother and
his wife had their first daughter, Tori, which is Graysen's first cousin. Prior to Tori's birth, Graysen acted
very jealous of the new competition for Mimi's time (my mother). However, she instantly fell in love with her cousin
when she first saw her and now talks about her all the time. We know Graysen is going to make an excellent big
sister, although we anticipate a period of adjustment for her since she has gotten used to being an only child (especially
from the spoiling from the grandparents).
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