On October 23, 1996 our lives changed forever. That was the day we found out we were having a baby. I had taken a blood test earlier that day and when the nurse called to tell me that the test was positive, she also told me that the HCG measurement was a little high -- 1,311. When I asked what did that mean, she laughed and said that usually meant multiples and we'd find out next week how many babies we were having. Huh? Ba-BIES? Plural? It was then that I knew we were in for quite a ride.

Sure enough,an ultrasound the next week confirmed it -- we had 3 big, healthy looking sacs, with strong heartbeats. Omigosh. My husband Mark was very calm; he had always wanted 6 children (after a good laugh, I married him anyway), so in his mind he was halfway there. But by then I was so sick that June seemed a lifetime away. Morning sickness is a myth -- the truth is, you're sick all day, morning, noon, and night. I would crawl out of bed in the morning, drag myself to work, and count the minutes til I could go home and go to bed. Mark would wake me up and try to get to eat enough to keep my prenatal vitamins down. Then I would pass out again until morning. Because there were 3 babies, my hormone levels were much higher than a normal pregnancy, and I was miserable, tired, weepy. Sleep was a welcome escape. Mark felt like he was living alone, although for once he didn't have to fight me for time at the computer.