Happy New Year

Been a while since i posted. Now that the holidays are over, I think I can see the black fog of holiday depression beginning to dissipate. Hopefully, the cold northwest wind will hasten it's departure. Happy New Year to all, although as I get older, they all seem to blur together. I was pleasantly surprised when I read the local area morning paper, for a change. This story is from the little town that shares a zip code with us out here in the river bottoms. I will copy and paste it here, just to show that sometimes, good things do make the news; and that living in a small southern town just may have some advantages at times. Here's hoping that the rest of the year will take a cue from this story.

Four times the love
Community pitches in as Ballard County couple awaits birth of quadruplets
By Angie Kinsey akinsey@paducahsun.com--270.575.8657



Tuesday, January 01, 2008

LA CENTER, Ky. — Amber and Jeremy Parker have converted their garage into a family room and traded in their sport utility vehicle for a minivan in the past few months.

“I swore I would never drive a minivan,” Amber said.

That was before they found out they were expecting quadruplets — three girls and a boy to be named Bailey Grace, Miley Jo, Kallie Kathleen and William Crice.

“We had to do something,” she said. “We didn’t have enough room (in the vehicle) to even bring them home from the hospital.”

The Parker quads are due March 13, but, at 29 weeks, they could come at any time. “All babies seem to be healthy and they’re all over 3 pounds,” said Amber, 32.

The Parkers, who have been married for four years, decided to start a family a year after they married. Jeremy Parker, 34, already has a 10-year-old daughter, Mallory, who lives in Providence.

“We tried a year and nothing was happening,” Amber said. “We did fertility work in Paducah with Dr. (Susan) Mueller and nothing showed up. Ten percent of people have unexplained infertility.”

Amber Parker became pregnant after undergoing in vitro fertilization in Nashville, Tenn., but miscarried in September 2006. They decided to try another in vitro clinic in St. Louis.

“The main reason we chose the clinic in St. Louis was because they offered a discount for teachers and teachers never get discounts,” said Amber, a health and physical education teacher at Ballard County Middle School. “I thought these people have got to be good if they’re giving teachers a break.”

Four embryos were transferred in the process, but doctors said it was unlikely the couple would have anything more than twins.

“We were kind of wanting twins anyway,” Jeremy said. “I wasn’t with her when she found out. I was at work.”

When four babies showed up on the ultrasound, “it was a good thing I was lying down,” Amber said. “I was definitely in shock. The doctor just kept rubbing his head, saying, ‘This never happens. You must have a higher power on your side.’ Then I had to call Jeremy.”

Jeremy was at a gas station on his way to work at Ballard Telephone Cooperative when he got the call.

“He said, ‘No, Amber, really how many? Quit messing around.’ I had to get the nurse to tell him it was four,” she said. “At first, I was shocked, nervous and scared, but then it kind of sunk in.”

“Then we had to figure out what we’re going to do with them,” Jeremy added. That’s when Jeremy and his friends converted the two-car garage into the family room.

Doctors insisted on a weekly ultrasound and told Amber to quit work in September. Besides Mueller, Amber sees a fertility specialist in Evansville, Ind., and the babies will most likely be born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville.

“I was very panicked because I didn’t have very many sick days left,” she said. The school system “sent out a districtwide e-mail asking if teachers would donate their sick time. The e-mail went out on Thursday and by Monday morning I had enough days. I am very grateful to teach with people who are willing to give and help out.”

The teachers also gave the couple a baby shower. They have also been given showers by Ballard Telephone, First Baptist Church of Barlow, Amber’s high school and college friends, and family and friends in Jeremy’s hometown of Clay in Webster County. A community yard sale also netted $600, which is in the quads’ savings account.

Two Ballard Memorial High School clubs have chosen the Parkers as their community service projects. FBLA members gave them another baby shower in December, and HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) members have volunteered to run errands, clean and stay overnight once the babies are born.

“It’s unreal the amount of support people have given us,” Amber said. “I always knew Ballard County was an amazing place to live. I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I think every church in this county and McCracken County have us on their prayer list. Seriously, that’s why I think we’re doing so well. It’s from the prayers. I’ve felt a peace about it from the beginning.”

Amber plans to return to work in August. Baby sitters are already lined up, including her mother, Diane Crice, who lives next door.

“People come up to us and say, ‘Your life, as you know it, is over,’” Amber said. “It may be over, but we’re getting a new life. It’s going to be crazy, but it’s going to be our life. We’ll work together to get it done.”