Week 14

Second trimester is here!

We were looking forward to the second trimester for many reasons--foremost among those the subsidence of morning sickness. Unfortunately, we're still waiting. On top of occasional symptoms, she's dealing with the discomfort of being continuously stretched... and stretched... and stretched a little more.

One of the many neat things about multiples (and something that anybody with experience with multiples already knows) is that, because there's so many little people in there, the heartbeats have to be checked via ultrasound versus normal doppler. With a doppler and four heartbeats, all you'd hear is a jumbled mess. As a result, we get a lot of extra opportunities to see the munchkins on TV and we get a chance to speculate early as to the sexes of the little ones.

So, (drumroll please)...

Our ultrasound tech, Kristy, feels pretty comfortable that there are either: two boys, two girls; or three boys, one girl. Hopefully, we'll be able to know for sure in the next couple of weeks, but for now (like anyone) we're happy that they're healthy and progressing nicely. I know it's politically incorrect to hope for the babies to be a particular sex, but I don't think it's unnatural to hope for balance in the household. There's a real possibility that these might be the only kids we ever have and as such, we'd be especially blessed to have both sons and daughters--or some combination therein. I suspect that most expectant parents of higher order multiples would express similar sentiments.

So anyway, the beddings are bought. The glider's on order and the cribs are picked out. The closet is starting to fill up with tiny clothes and blankies that are ten times softer than any I remember from my own babyhood. It's all getting very real--which is to say, exciting. Meanwhile, we enjoy these few remaining weeks before bed rest officially starts. We have much to do, but we still have time and plenty of helpful loved ones to get us there. We continue to be thankful for our numerous blessings!

Introduction to our Blog

So this is the blogosphere...

Well, apparently this is the most logical place to post musings about life. Specifically, Crissie and I wish to use this as an on-line diary for friends and family who wish to follow the adventure of our most interesting news...

We're having quadruplets!

Yep, it's still weird to write it out and I've been coming to grips with it for more than 6 weeks now. As I write this, Crissie is two days shy of 12 weeks into her pregnancy. She's growing nicely despite her morning sickness and the doctors all seem really pleased with her progress.

Apart from the obvious shock: "Oh my God, I'm having four babies all at the same time!!!", there are so many hundreds of little things that most people (those who don't have multiple inbounds) never have to think about while pregnant. Each of those little 'Eureka' moments provide endless fodder for discussion between the wife and I. These discussions usually end with us nervously laughing and reassuring each other that "we'll be fine." Then we roll over and wonder if we're just kidding ourselves!

I've said this probably a hundred times since we started sharing the news, but I believe it, and I'm sticking with it: Our greatest blessing, in terms of our preparedness, is that we don't have any kids now and therefore, we won't know the difference. Four babies will just be normal to us and that's all we'll know.

People always want to know what our initial reactions were. I'm told that I was just smiling the whole time during the ultrasound. I remember being genuinely excited and happy. I wouldn't say I was scared. I knew I had a lot I needed to learn pretty quickly, but the internet and Consumer Reports could fix a lot of that. Crissie was initially pretty shocked, but soon our common excitement started to feed on each other. Now, I'd say we are in full-on planning mode, which suits us well.

Anyhow, our aim is to keep everyone updated via this blog, so I'm sure we'll have plenty more to share. Sincerest appreciation is due to the incredible outpouring of support and well-wishers. We continue to be so blessed to have such loving and thoughtful friends and family.

Stay tuned for our adventure!