Today, May 12, is Adam’s birthday! I thought that given the
fact that it’s his special day, I’d write a special post today in recognition
of him and all he does for me and our family.
When Adam and I met, I’m pretty sure that he never expected
to become my husband and much less, the father of quadruplets! (I know I didn’t
expect it.) It’s amazing what God has done with just a couple years of our
lives. When Adam and I first met, one of
the first things he realized about me was the strong desire in my heart to
become a mother. Of course, once we were serious, I shared with him my
struggles with infertility and how I didn’t know if I’d ever get to be a mom.
He promised me when we were just dating that one day, he’d find a way to make
me a mother. So he bought me a puppy…JUST KIDDING! (But he did buy me a puppy!)
In January of 2013, I turned 33 and we began to pray hard
for a baby. I began to endure test after test and Adam stuck by my side through
it all even while going through his own battery of tests. When I started to
have doubts, and would get depressed as I struggled with the grief that comes
along with infertility, Adam stuck by my side. He went right along with me to
appointment after appointment. I’ll never forget walking out of our first visit
with the specialist feeling defeated and thinking that yet again, I’d never be
a mom. Adam grabbed my hand and told me to just stick with it and try what the
doctor recommended just one time. I did.
A few weeks after the first cycle of treatments, we found
out we were expecting. Close friends who knew what we were doing joked with us
that we would probably be pregnant with twins or triplets.
About a month later, in September, we went
back to confirm the heartbeat. Adam was by side (actually standing behind me
with his hand on my back) when the doctor broke the news to us that not only
was I pregnant, but there were four separate heartbeats. He stood next to me
and held my hand as we heard some of the first beats of each baby’s heart. When
the doctors advised us to reduce, he was the first to say “not a chance”. He
went to every single doctor’s appointment with me and stood by me through what
was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, a quadruplet
pregnancy. Adam reminded me constantly that we were in this together and we
were going through the pregnancy on faith; faith in God. He took care of me
throughout the pregnancy, driving me to work and doctor’s appointments, cleaning
up after me, cooking for me, moving us (both packing and unpacking), and even
as far as shaving my legs for me when I couldn't bend over anymore.
On the day that Evelyn’s water broke, Adam was working. I
had told him earlier that morning that I had some weird pain in my back and he
wanted to come home at that point but I told him it was probably nothing and to
give me until lunch to see if it went away. When lunch came, I stood up, and
her water broke, the first call I made was to tell Adam. His immediate reaction
was to jump in his car and rush to get me. As you know if you’ve read, we
probably wouldn’t have made it that way, so my mom drove me until we could meet
the EMS off of 290 who took me the rest of the way to Texas Children’s. Adam
was waiting just outside of Houston and when the ambulance went by, he was
right behind us and was in the room almost at the same time they wheeled me in.
On the day they were born, Adam was on the hospital couch
asleep in the room when I told him he needed to call the nurse for me. We were
both panicked and surprised when they told us they were wheeling me down to
labor and delivery but Adam stuck by me the whole time. He even stood outside
the OR while I was getting my epidural and snuck a few pictures through the
window.
And now, with four babies at home, our life is total chaos.
Our sleep schedules are completely off and rarely do either of us get a full
night’s sleep. It’s almost unheard of for us to have a few minutes alone to
ourselves and a date night is nearly impossible with the stage we are in now. The
best way to put it is that our babies pretty much monopolize both of our lives.
For a lot of men, this is completely overwhelming and foreign to have to give
up so much of yourself for such a tiny, poopy, crying human being. I’ll be
honest, there are times when I’m pretty sure both of us have been at our ready
to throw in the towel. But through all of it, Adam has stuck by my side. He’s
been there for 3 AM feedings right along with me. He knows how to swaddle our
kids better than probably anyone (including me). He sits and talks to the
babies and on a couple of occasions, I’ve walked in on him tickling a baby on
the changing table. He knows how to wash and fold baby clothes by the masses,
wash and make bottles in an assembly line, bathe four babies at once, and he’s
perfecting his culinary skills by making meals for us, all while he handles the
“manly jobs” like mowing the yard, working on the cars, fixing whatever breaks
and what may have you.
I know it’s definitely not easy being a quad dad! It’s hard
for me and by nature, women are built to be able to have patience and softness
with their children. Everything you go through with one baby is hard on a
couple but we’re doing it times four. Adam has done a beautiful job of seeing
where he’s needed and being there for us. The next few months and into the next
year is sure to bring on tons more changes for our family but I am happy to
know that I’ll go through all of this with him right beside me.
So today, on your birthday, I want to say thank you Adam!
Thank you for loving me, for realizing that while neither of us is perfect, we
love one another as God wants us to and that’s enough. Thank you for helping me
to realize my dreams, for sticking by my side even in the unexpected, and for
your willingness to work hard for all of the goals we set out for our marriage
and our family. Most of all, thank you for helping me to create a home where we
do second chances, we do real, we do mistakes, we do I’m sorry, we do loud, we
do family, and most of all, we do LOVE! I love you, Adam! Happy birthday!
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