How did this happen???

We've been directing more and more people to follow along with our journey on this blog, but the one question people keep asking is how this all started? Many of you know the back story of our adventures in trying to get pregnant, but for those that are more casual observers, here's the scoop. (Since most people get the whole "sperm meets egg" part, we'll skip to the relevant issue of how we got four embryos when most folks usually end up with one. For those who need a brush-up in the matter of "sperm meets egg" consult a biology textbook or a Marvin Gaye album)

Crissie and I had been actively engaged in the natural processes that generally yield pregnancies for quite a while--roughly 18 months--with no results. She'd been taking Clomid for about a year before the doctor recommended a fertility specialist. We went to see Dr. Lu in Mandeville who suggested some follicle stimulation (which is not nearly as much fun as it may sound). That entailed a daily shot of Follistim to stimulate growth, shots of Ganirelix to prevent premature ovulation, and finally an HCG (trigger) shot to force ovulation at the appropriate time.

We started our first cycle on this protocol and things were not progressing as the Dr. would have liked, so he sent us home to take the trigger shot, knock boots, and see what happens. He was not particularly optimistic that we wouldn't have to try again the next month. He was wrong. Crissie released some good eggs and my sperms got down to biz-ness. We don't really know how many eggs she released yet, but we know that we ended up with four little dots on the ultrasound 4 weeks later. For you techies out there, they are all in their own little bags in the womb--no shared quarters.

To review: No Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), no In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), yes follicle stimulation, yes bedroom happy-time. Nothing against IUI or IVF, of course--people just ask us all the time because they hear "quadruplet" and they automatically assume implanted fertilized eggs.

So, now you know the story of how the little ones got into Crissie's belly. For more on how they're going to get out, stay tuned!