This week G-d gave Shevy and I the biggest blessing any parent could wish for—healthy infant triplets!!!
When we first suspected Shevy was pregnant, we went to the doctor for a routine confirmation appointment. We've done this before. No sweat.
We were elated when the doctor confirmed the pregnancy and told Shevy to return the following week for another routine check. We had five beautiful kids at home, and a newborn would make that six. How exciting!
But at the following appointment, the doctor told her we were actually expecting twins. That meant we'd be jumping from five kids straight to seven! Wow. We felt truly blessed. She told Shevy to come back for another check up the following week.
When Shevy returned the next week, the doctor spotted a third little baby and told her we would be having triplets and that she should come back the following week. To say we were shocked would be an understatement.
The first words out of my mouth were, "Shevy, there is no way you are going to that doctor for another check up next week!"
When I told a sibling the good news, she was incredulous. "What did you do?!" she demanded. "Nothing different from the first five!" I promised.
We feel beyond blessed that our triplets have arrived happy and healthy at 34 weeks with an all-natural, non-medicated delivery that astounded the medical team.
And just like that, our family has jumped from five children to eight!
Our friends' reactions has been mixed.
One close friend nearly fell off his chair when I told him.
Another texted me, "Rabbi, are you ok??"
Then I got, "Rabbi, I am sponsoring your Netflix for the next five years..."
And of course, the anticipated, "Mazal tov. Are you done now?"
Of course, the challenges are immense.
I just Googled "How to raise eight children in Manhattan" and got zero results. That's because nobody that I know has eight kids in NYC. Just search, "Tuition costs NYC" and you'll understand why.
How will we pay for private school education for eight kids? How will we afford an apartment large enough for eight kids on the Upper East Side? Does it even exist? What car will we drive? What will our food bills look like? How will I find time in my already packed schedule to bathe, feed, play with, and actively raise them?
I don't have all the answers just yet, but I know we'll figure it out.
Are there going to be sacrifices? Absolutely. With eight kids under the age of 11, we won't be taking a family vacation anytime in the next few years, or perhaps decades.
But I feel like the luckiest person alive. Each child is a precious treasure, gifted to us directly from G-d.
Imagine you made one million dollars, and then you made another million a while later, followed by another million, and so on. And then in a single day you made three million dollars, giving you a total of eight million, and someone came along and asked, "Are you done yet?" That's how I feel, only it's not eight million, it's eight billion!
So, am I done? You tell me.
Wishing you a great weekend!
Rabbi Uriel and Shevy Vigler