"Stop counting. Please. I can't breathe."

**This took place back in 2010-2011. This is our story about getting pregnant with our Olivia...I published this post without proofreading. This post was a big step for me.

The "2 week wait" is the longest, most brutal wait. Minutes seem like hours, days seem like weeks, weeks seem like months. It's awful. You over analyze every ache, pain, cramp, soreness. Every time I felt something that didn't seem right or felt like a period cramp I would Google what I was feeling to see if that was "normal". I read blog after blog, website after website. I always tell people that that "2 week wait" can make a person go insane.

It was finally my turn. After two long weeks, I went to Dr B's office to get my blood work done. He gets results back the same day which is a beautiful thing. I had to work that day which you would think was the best thing for me, but instead of keeping busy with work I held my phone and watched every minute pass. My boss and I had a client meeting that afternoon. Of course Dr. B was running late with results so I had to go into the meeting clenching my phone waiting for the "the call". Emily (my boss) at the time was beyond supportive and knew I would have to excuse myself once I got the call.

Sure enough, 10 minutes into the meeting my phone rings. I darted for the door, took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Courtney?"

"Mmm hm. Yep. It's me"

"HCG is 89. You are definitely pregnant. Congrats my friend."

I couldn't say anything. Tears rolled down my face while I stood there looking out at Lake Michigan. It was the most stunning view which made that phone call one of the most beautiful moments of my life. After hanging up I gave myself a second to take it all in. I remember thinking, "finally, we did it."

After finishing the meeting I told Emily I had to go. I couldn't tell her the results of the phone call even though she was dying to know. Don had to be the first to know. He deserved hearing the news in person and I knew exactly how I would tell him.

I got home, wrapped his gift and waited for him to get home from work. It seemed like forever for him to get home. He wasn't expecting the results that day. I told him we wouldn't be getting the results until after the weekend. When he walked through the door I practically threw the gift at him. My patience had officially run out and I couldn't wait a second more for Don to find out that he was going to be a Dad.

He opened the gift and pulled out an infant size Blackhawks jersey. If you know my husband you know that he is a die hard Hawks fan. Every time we've welcomed a niece/nephew to the family he goes out to buy them their first jersey. It was only right that I do the same for him.

I have never seen a bigger smile on my husbands face. We stood in the middle of the kitchen holding one another, both crying. We barely spoke. This was our moment that we had been waiting for for over two years. We deserved this moment.

Because my HCG was so high I was able to get an ultrasound a week later. That's when it was confirmed by Sherri, Dr B's ultrasound nurse.

"Congrats, Courtney. I see Baby A and Baby B! You are pregnant with twins!"

Dr B's suspicion was right all along. A little overwhelmed, I loved hearing this news. I walked in the waiting room to show Don the ultrasound picture. I showed him both babies. We laughed so hard in the hallway. Of course this would be the case. We cried and stressed over getting pregnant for how long and now we don't only get one baby, but two!

I was beyond excited that I went to the store and bought a picture frame that said "Two Peas in a Pod". I put the ultrasound picture in the frame and wrapped it up. This would be the gift that we presented Don's parents to announce the good news.

We were both on a complete high that week. We went to a nice dinner to celebrate. We talked about the future and how we would move out of the master bedroom so we could fit two cribs in there. I browsed online at wardrobes for twins. It was exciting. Our family was complete. All of the frustration and pain we endured was over, we were going to be a family four!

Or so we thought...

The following week I had another ultrasound appointment. Don didn't come since we both had work that day. I walked in there feeling like a proud Mama-to-be and couldn't wait to get more pictures of my little peanuts.

Sherri made small talk with me while getting the probe into position.

"Here they are."

Just as she went to show me she pulled back the monitor.

"Oh wow, there's three. You're having triplets."

My eyes just about popped out and my heart started beating a little faster.

"Three? Oh my God."

Sherri didn't say a word. I looked at her face and could tell she was in complete concentration. She was looking at the monitor in complete shock.

Clearing her throat she quietly said, "Four. One, two, three, four."

"Stop counting. Please. I can't breathe."

I looked up at the ceiling and started to cry. To say that I was overwhelmed is a complete understatement. Am I on candid camera? Is this a sick joke? What the hell is happening? What are we going to do!? I had a million thoughts running through my head.

Sherri looked at me and asked if I was ok. I couldn't utter a single word. The shock knocked the wind out of me. I laid there crying at the ceiling unable to move. She left the room to give me a moment. Once I got dressed and walked out she told me that she paged Dr. B and he would be calling me shortly. I couldn't say anything. I walked past her in a daze and left the office.

Standing in the hallway I knew I had to call Don. How do I tell him? How will he take it? What are we going to do? How do we go from zero babies to four babies? How will be afford four babies?

"Hello."

"What I'm about to tell you isn't a joke."

"Ok. What's wrong?"

"Four. There's four."

"Four, what?"

"Four babies. I'm pregnant with four babies."

From there I went from crying to hysterically sobbing.

Don took the news better than I did. Though I could sense the panic in his voice he assured me that it would all work out and that we are fortunate to have enough love for all four.

A short time later Dr. B called. He told me that if I was driving he wanted me to pull over, so I did. I sat in a parking lot while he delivered a blow that I never knew existed.

"Dr. B, what happened?"

"Both eggs split and all four took."

"What? How?"

"You're not going to have four babies."

"Excuse me?"

"You can't have four babies. This pregnancy is high risk and I don't believe your body can handle quadruplets. Your health is at risk and the babies health are at risk. I've set up an appointment to speak with a doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancies. He is going to recommend a pregnancy reduction."

"What is that?"

"It is a procedure to terminate multiple fetuses. I'm sorry, Courtney. This isn't a good situation."

"I can't breathe. My heart. I can't. I can't breathe."

I hung up the phone. The conversation we had will forever change my life. I sat in the parking lot and screamed on top of my lungs. I screamed at my Godfather who was suppose to be my guardian angel. I screamed at God for giving us the best moment of our life and then ripping it away while leaving us breathless and devastated. I was completely broken. The pain of that phone call will forever burn in my mind. The phone call I had to make to my husband informing him of the reduction nearly killed me. To have to deliver that sort of news to a man who desperately wanted to be a father was beyond unfair.

The nightmare was only beginning and our two naive selves had no clue what we were about to face in the coming weeks.