Surviving Sextuplets and Twins

Did anyone else see this show on TLC last night? A couple had twins, decided they wanted just one more baby (and the wife had to talk the husband into it at that), and conceived sextuplets. Talk about a cruel twist of cosmic fate.

When we first found out we were expecting Liam, we both had it in our heads that it might be fun to find out it was twins. We had waited a long time to have kids (partly by choice and partly because we were then held hostage by my reproductive system) and it seemed like a great way to play catch-up (or, as Chad put it, ‘a great way to get it all over with at once’). I was on Clomid at the time, and while there was no increased risk of the high-order multiples that you get with injectibles and more serious fertility drugs, there was definitely an increased risk of twins or (to a lesser extent) triplets.

Well, Liam came along and my tune changed immediately. Thank God we didn’t have twins. The workload with one has been manageable, but two would probably have put us over the edge. The amount of stuff that has infiltrated our house has been slightly unbearable; I cringe to think what it would have been like with two of everything. And, getting to know Liam over this past year and a bit has been a true joy; it would not have been the same had I had to split my time with and attention to him in half.

You get what you get, and I will have to eat crow if we do have another baby someday and that hypothetical baby turns out to be babies; but this show basically reaffirmed my whole what was I thinking? mentality. I watched this family drop more than $1000 on each trip to Costco, and refer to their children as either ‘the babies’ or ‘the twins’, but hardly ever by name; don’t even get me started on what I saw when this woman lifted her shirt to show America what 8 kids does to your abdomen. I see major plastic surgery in her future and I am feeling pretty svelte by comparison. Yes, today I am thanking my lucky stars for my one and only.