I’m proud of my quad squad

“There’s a history of multiple births in my family – two sets of triplets and two sets of twins. Nevertheless, I never expected to get quadruplets, especially because my first pregnancy (my five-year-old daughter) wasn’t a multiple. 

“Last year, when I was about three months pregnant, my doctor recommended a scan to determine why I was getting so sick – I had severe nausea, shortness of breath and I was vomiting blood. The nausea was so bad that, later, they were giving me medication used to alleviate nausea in patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. In the course of the pregnancy I was admitted to hospital five times with what the doctors later determined to be gastritis – an irritation of the stomach lining.  At this initial scan, the technician, looking puzzled, said he detected more than three hearts. They turned out to be four.

“When I realised I was going to have quadruplets, I was depressed – perhaps because the scan technician got shocked at his first quadruplet sighting and my then gynaecologist told me my pregnancy was high-risk. I feared for my life – I was a very slim girl (about 49 kilogrammes) and I wondered how I would be able to carry four babies. My husband on the other hand was very excited.

“Someone advised me to join an online pregnancy support group. I got a lot of advice but not all responses were positive – some, not believing that I was carrying quadruplets, accused me of seeking attention. Another mother then referred me to a closed group called Multiple Blessings. This group turned out to be a blessing. I was the only one having quads so the members rallied around me – they even made house calls.  At about 16 weeks of pregnancy, a nurse at one of the hospitals I was considering delivering at advised me to go to a hospital with a more established neonatal clinic because my babies would be delivered pre-term. From her advice, I settled on a hospital with the best neonatal units in Kenya where I met a very reassuring gynaecologist. I was still nervous about the pregnancy but he encouraged me, saying he had delivered numerous multiples and everything would be all right. He told me I could call him anytime – which I did – it’s almost as if we were pregnant together!

EXPENSIVE AFFAIR

“The first thing he did was sew my cervix in what is called a McDonald stitch to keep the pregnancy in place. This should have been done by week 12. He then put me on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. Most days I only left my room to go to the bathroom. At week 30, the doctor was  ready to deliver the babies but I wanted to get as close to term as I could. At week 32 I got very sick and had to be rushed to hospital. My gynaecologist told me the stiches were undone and my cervix was open.

“Lyanna, Lisa, lara and Libby were born this year on 22nd June via C-section. Two weighed 1.6kg while the others weighed 1.5kg and 1.2kgs respectively. As the gynaecologist was delivering them he would hold them out to me one by one so I could have a look – and I was thinking, oh my God, they are so tiny, will they survive!? When my hubby first saw them in the incubator he cried because of their size, but the nurses reassured us by saying they had seen babies as small as 580 grammes who had survived! We stayed in hospital for another four weeks until they got to 2kgs. During this hospital stay their weight and health fluctuated, but by the time we left hospital they were all healthy.

“When we got home from hospital, we got into a new phase of night shifts! First of all, my house-help had left when I was in hospital. Getting another one was hard because when they realised I had quadruplets they declined my job offers. I have gone through seven house helps since then. I have to have two nannies and when I have to go to the clinic, I ‘borrow’ two more from neighbours to help me with my children. My current nannies have left for the holidays and I have a feeling that they will not be coming back. The babies are a lot of work, even with me present and hands-on. 

“I exclusively breastfed my firstborn but now I’ve had to supplement with formula. In the beginning, the babies would wake up seven times at night but in the past week, two of them have started sleeping through the night – which is a relief.

“The financial aspect has not been easy. My husband and I are young couple and then all of a sudden, we have five children! The hospital bill was astronomical and we have already exhausted a medical cover that we took after they were born! Preemies need a lot of supplements that they should have gotten before birth. Also, even though I am now weaning them, they consume a tin of formula (and 30 diapers) in a day.

“Until the time I started getting sick, I had been a high school teacher at a school in Westlands. Obviously, I stopped going to work because of the bed rest, but going back has proved to be difficult because of miscommunication with the administration.  I, however, need to resume work because our huge budget cannot be maintained by one salary.

“In spite of the financial constraints, I am doing well, physically and emotionally. The girls have been healthy throughout. They are now at a healthy 6kgs! Their elder sister adores them. When we first told her she would get four sisters, she told everyone – even her teacher called me to ask whether it was true. When they were incubated she couldn’t understand why ‘they were keeping our babies.’ I love watching her kiss each one of them every morning and every night. I have had a lot of goodwill from people checking in to help and to see how we are doing. The priest even conducted a thanksgiving mass in my house.

“This whole experience has brought me closer to God. Many women have gone through this and they (or their children) didn’t survive, but we have. It has also opened up an avenue for me to encourage other women going through the same experience.”