“Four Years Of Fertility Problems
Forgotten As Twins Take Center Stage”

By Randy and Lisa McManus

Life is a bit hectic at our house these days. The kitchen needs some serious attention and there are a couple of lodes of laundry to be done. The living room is wall-to-wall toys. Please don't even look in the bathroom. Vacuuming? Maybe tomorrow. Dusting? Who has the time?

You see, we have twins at our house. Eleven-month-old boys who are crawling and thinking about walking. Boys who have discovered the cat's water bowl and who are getting more curious each day about exactly what we keep in all those kitchen cabinets. Boys who wiggle and giggle when we try to change their diapers. Boys who like to hug us and give us sloppy kisses. Boys - our sons - who are to us, miracles.

You see, throughout our six-year marriage we often wondered if we'd ever have one child, much less two. Like 15% of all couples in the United States, we had fertility problems. It took modern medical science - in the form of the Nashville-based Center for Reproductive Health and Dr. Jaime Vasquez - to help us get pregnant.

Frankly, fertility treatment was the most trying time of both of our lives. It was a four-year emotional roller coaster punctuated by blood tests, temperature charts, surgeries and injections. Each month brought new promise and new disappointment. And then one month we found out we were pregnant, and the next month we learned we were having twins! Then on April 29, 1996, Ty (5 pounds, 11 ounces) and Levi (5 pounds, nine ounces) were born - five weeks early, but healthy.

We had to wait an entire day before we could hold them. We still remember those first moments there in the hospital nursery when we took the boys in our arms. There are simply no words to describe how we felt. All those years of worry were behind us and suddenly we were really parents.

Well, these first 11 months with Ty and Levi have just flown by. We're both amazed at how fast our sons have grown (they each weigh over 19 pounds now) and how much they've changed.

So far, Levi seems the more aggressive of the two. He's been the first to roll over and the first to crawl. Of course, as soon as Ty sees his brother doing something, he wants to do it too.

Ty seems more settled than Levi. He'll play with one toy for a long time, while Levi gets bored and quickly moves on to something else. They both love their walkers and like to follow us all over the house. They enjoy each other's company and get along pretty well - although Levi really likes to pull Ty's hair.

We struggle not to be too protective of Ty and Levi. It's hard. Although the boys started sleeping through the night when they were 8 weeks old, it was several more months before we allowed ourselves that same luxury. One of us was always getting up to make sure the babies were breathing.

We worry about the boys growing up. We think about all the bad things out in the world, how hard we worked to get these two babies, and the next thing you know we're wondering if we'll let them ride their bikes alone when they're older. They can't even walk yet!

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