My birth story...by Louise D

The day my Quads were born...

I fell pregnant after our second attempt at ICSI IVF. At our first scan, the doctors told us we were expecting triplets. We were so shocked, but extremely excited, even though I was only around 6 weeks, and the doctor said it was possible in the next few weeks that we would lose one or more of the babies.

Soon after, I started to feel extremely tired. My sickness began at about 5 weeks, and was quite severe until about 16 weeks. I lost a stone in weight. We were also renovating our house , and it was a very stressful time.

I gave up work at 22 weeks, as my job was quite physical, taking sick leave until my maternity started at 29 weeks. Once the sickness had subsided, it was a relatively easy pregnancy. I tried to take it as easy as possible, resting and lounging in the bath for the first half of the day, and maybe walking to the shops in the afternoon.

I went to a couple of antenatal classes, but didn't enjoy them as I felt such an oddity. The midwife didn't seem to have any knowledge of multiple births, and since I was the only one in the group, I didn't feel like I wanted to draw attention to myself by asking questions that only applied to me. I got all my information from a book from the library ( I wasn't able to use the internet in those days - that would have made such a difference).

My waters broke late one night at 29 weeks, long before a caesarean date had been given. My local hospital didn't have any special care beds free, so I was taken 30 miles away. My babies were born by caesarean early the next morning - 4 babies in all. A surprise to everyone!! Somehow it had been missed on all the scans!!

I had 2 boys and 2 girls, with weights between 2lb4oz and 2lb 13oz. They went to special care, where they had a number of health scares, but we were able to take the first 2 home after 2 months, and the other 2 followed a month later.

9 months later, our fears were confirmed that one of our daughters, Mara,  has cerebral palsy.

It has at times been very difficult to cope , but we are very thankful to have 4 loving and happy children who enjoy life to the best of their abilities. There is a very special bond between them, and it gives us lots of joy to see them growing up together.We really feel blessed to have them in our lives.

Louise

Rachel, Thomas, Benjamin, Mara (20.10.99) quads