Triple blessing creates a three-ring family circus

    Carol and Jeff Ganucheau thought when they married in November 2009 at the Chapel of the North American Martyrs at Jesuit High School that they might have some time to share married life with each other as a couple before having children.
    Little did they know that in a span of less than 54 weeks – from June 29, 2010 to July 9, 2011 – they would have three baby boys, including identical twins, requiring a professional juggling act worthy of a three-ring circus.
    Sometimes they don’t know whether they are coming or going, but the Ganucheaus say their three sons – James, who is almost 17 months old, and Henry and Andrew, four months old – have been everything they could have hoped or prayed for.
    “As a pediatric nurse, I take care of some very sick and very high-needs’ children with cerebral palsy and heart conditions and other kinds of disorders that require 24-hour care,” said Carol, 25. “I always think to myself, ‘I don’t know how those mothers can do it. They are devoting their entire lives to helping their child survive.’
    “I always remind myself that as crazy as our life is, there is always somebody struggling or having more to deal with. We’re just blessed to have three healthy children. They’re growing and healthy. I definitely don’t take that for granted.”
 

Early morning at Walgreen’s
    The Ganucheaus had been married for only a month when Carol suspected that she might be pregnant, and she sent Jeff to Walgreen’s at 2:30 one morning to buy a pregnancy test kit.
    “Carol made it a point that I had to go and buy it and I had to place my wedding ring on the counter,” said Jeff, 23, who works for chef John Besh at Lüke restaurant on St. Charles Avenue. “I remember that we probably weren’t ready to find out that we were pregnant. We had really just gotten home from our honeymoon.”
    “We kind of wanted to wait at least a year or two,” Carol said. “It was definitely a surprise. I feel like nobody really feels prepared for a baby, but I do feel  like we were prepared to step into that role.”
    That surprise aside, everything went well until Carol developed HELLP syndrome, a life-threatening blood condition in pregnant women that can lead to organ failure in the expectant mother.
    Because of her tenuous condition, doctors decided to induce labor at 33 weeks gestation, and James weighed 3 pounds, 11 ounces when he was born on June 29, 2010.
 

Double your pleasure
    Carol had recovered completely after the delivery and was breastfeeding James for several months when the young couple got an even bigger surprise.
    “I knew I was planning to stop breastfeeding James, so I decided to buy a pregnancy test because I might as well have one on hand,” Carol said. “I didn’t have any of the classic symptoms. I didn’t feel tired or nauseous, but I decided to take the test in February (2011). I guess part of me was feeling that I was pregnant.”
    When the test turned up positive, she and Jeff made an appointment to see the doctor, who administered an ultrasound. Making small talk as the doctor probed her abdomen, Carol remarked about two of her patients – 11 months old at the time – who had a 2-year-old sibling.
    “I was telling the doctor, ‘I don’t know how that mom can handle that,’” Carol said. “I was telling him this as he was doing the ultrasound, and I wasn’t paying attention to the screen.”
    All of a sudden, instead of a “little ball” or a “little heartbeat,” the doctor saw two heads. And, not only that, the identical twin boys were so far along the doctor estimated they were about 15 or 16 weeks in development.
    “I was still in shock to see a head, a clearly formed baby that was as big as it was,” Carol said. “I thought we were unprepared for James – and then we were going to have two more children on the way. It was kind of a complete shock. That’s the only way to describe the feeling.”
 

Some nervous moments
    The identical twins shared the same placenta, and late in Carol’s pregnancy, they developed Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, which basically gives one twin a disproportionate share of the blood supply. As the “donor” twin, Henry weighed in at 4 pounds, 2 ounces, and as the “recipient” twin, Andrew was 5 pounds, 3 ounces.
    “But they had no adverse effects,” Carol said. “I had two ‘high-risk’ pregnancies with complications, but all three boys have had no lasting effects.”
    Now that the boys are here, they are tripleheaded handful. After missing out on their first baby shower because of James’ premature delivery, the Ganucheaus held an early one for the twins and had one major request – a triple stroller – which was so heavy Carol could not lift it when she was pregnant.
    “I had two of my friends over who were architecture majors, and it took us two hours to figure out how it all worked,” Jeff said. “It’s got three or four different brake systems.”
 

New wheels needed
    The Ganucheaus’ old Honda Civic that was just fine for James had to give way to an SUV that could fit three car seats in the rear.
    “It could fit three people in the back seat,” Carol said, “but car seats are wider than people.”
    As for life as a married couple, the juggling has continued. Carol works overnight shifts as a nurse three days a week, but Besh placed Jeff on a daytime schedule, Monday through Friday, that allows him more flexibility to be home at nights with the kids.
    “One of the things I’ve really enjoyed is having Friday nights off and taking all the boys to the Jesuit football games,” Ganucheau said. “My sister is a Jayette and she dances at the game, so my parents are always there, and usually one of my brothers.”
    “That’s a nice outing because there’s plenty of hands to help hold and feed them,” Carol said, laughing.
 

Have carts, will travel
    Grocery shopping is an adventure.
    “When they were really young we would only go when we could go together,” Carol said. “I’d put the twins in one grocery cart in their car seats, and James would be sitting in another grocery cart, and we’d put the groceries in his cart. Lately, I’ve gone out a few times by myself with a double stroller, and then James is in the shopping cart. I push one and pull the other.
    “Sometimes people will see me with the twins and say, ‘Oh, you’ve got your hands full.’ And I’ll point to James in the other cart and say, ‘Well, he’s ours too!’”
    Mass at St. Margaret Mary in Slidell usually means the cry room is the go-to spot. One evening, through a comedy of errors, they left a bottle behind and the box of baby wipes was empty, and all three started crying “hysterically” at the same time.
    “People were starting to give us looks,” Jeff said. “It was one of those poorly planned nights.”
 

Extra cleaning help
    Both families have pitched in to help, and not just with feedings. Carol’s and Jeff’s parents are ready at a moment’s notice to baby sit, and Jeff’s aunts have provided a volunteer cleaning service.
    “They come over and have big cleaning days, just to get to stuff that we normally wouldn’t clean,” Carol said. “They organize closets and clean mirrors and do things we overlook because they’re not important.”
    “Our house can literally become a disaster,” Jeff said. “There hasn’t been a clean house in a long time. That’s not one of our priorities.”
    They try to catch up on each other’s lives when they can, but right now, Carol and Jeff are just basking in the three new personalities that grow each day, literally before their eyes.
    “The twins are starting to smile and find their personalities,” Jeff said. “Sharing those moments is special. Normally it happens at night. James woke up the other night and we were trying to get him to calm down, but he thought it was playtime. He was laughing and having a great time. Those moments are wonderful.”
    Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at pfinney@clarionherald.org.