Formula for Multiples

Formula for Multiples
Having your first newborn can bring a whole gauntlet of emotions, but imagine what you’d feel if you found out that your first pregnancy would be quadruplets. That’s what happened to Samantha, an Art Director at Future US (parent company of Pregnancy). All four babies turned out to be girls. The odds of having natural quadruplets that are all girls? One in 15.6 million.

“The first question that many people ask us is whether or not this was through IVF, and when we tell them no, it is always a shock,” said Samantha. “We talked to many people about the pregnancy and many people are very supportive in offering to help, knowing how difficult caring for four babies would be.”

In addition to the support from family and friends, Pregnancy and Kids Line partnered up to build a nursery fit for four newborns. Pregnancy knows how difficult it can be to welcome a new bundle of joy—let alone four at a time. Luckily, Kids Line stepped up to the challenge and provided everything for a safe and beautiful nursery, including cribs, bedding, wall art, toys, and more.

It took the Pregnancy team two days to build the nursery, but the final product was well worth the time and effort. The nursery was split into two rooms, two cribs in the master bedroom and two cribs in another room. The cribs were outfitted with matching blankets, sheets, bumpers, and crib mobiles with a cute monkey design. The wall was decorated with more monkeys and butterflies. When the new nursery was revealed to the new mother-of-four, she was overjoyed with how it turned out.

“It’s very cute, I love it!” she said while admiring the room. “It’s very comforting to know that we have a nursery at home ready for the babies when they come home from the hospital. We’re ready for them.”

To learn more about the Kids Line products used in the nursery, go to www.kidsline.com.

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Complete Interview With Sam
What was your first thought when you heard you were pregnant with more than one baby?
My husband and I just got married in April, and though we always knew that we would start a family, we never thought we would start such a large family. We heard from many friends that it takes a while to get pregnant, and most friends have taken months to get pregnant, so we thought we would just let nature do it’s thing, and when it happens, it happens. I found out I was pregnant in May and so I went to see my ob/gyn.

The ob/gyn did an ultrasound and was unable to find the embryo at first, thought that it could be ectopic pregnancy, and advised us to abort the pregnancy. We decided do a few tests and wait a few days before deciding what to do. A week later, during our third ultrasound, she was able to locate the embryos, and that was when we found out that we were having twins.

We were really excited about the idea of having twins. We also decided that we would like a new ob/gyn, so we scheduled our first appointment with Dr. Jessica Wong from Women’s Care Medical Group. During our first visit, Dr. Wong asked us whether the twins were confirmed, and we told her no. She conducted an ultrasound to confirm the twins and found out that it was triplets instead of twins, and that’s when she recommended us to Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, because triplets are consider very high-risk. She recommended that we get another ultrasound at Stanford to confirm the triplets. Thinking this was just a routine ultrasound, I went to the hospital on my own and during the ultrasound the nurse told me that I wasn’t pregnant with triplets, it was quadruplets!

I was so scared when I heard, I called my husband at work and told him what they found. It seemed that every time we did an ultrasound another baby was inside me. I didn’t know what to do, and my husband rushed to the hospital to talk with the doctor. We were both excited and scared because this was our first pregnancy and we have no idea what to do.

The first question that many people ask us is whether or not this was through IVF, and when we tell them no, it is always a shock.

What was one of the first things you did right after you found out?
The first thing I did after leaving the hospital was call my mom to let her know. She was just as shocked as I was, but she was more worried for my health.

What kinds of resources have you used to find out more information about having multiples?
We’ve used many sources for information, but primarily through the Internet, searching for information about quadruplets. Babycenter.com has been great with lots of information, as well as March of Dimes, which has a lot of information on preterm babies. Dr. Norton at Stanford has also been great with providing info about high-order multiples, too.

We talked to many people about the pregnancy and many people are very supportive in offering to help, knowing how difficult caring for four babies would be. There are not a lot of resources for having a quadruplet pregnancy, because they are so rare. It’s been a challenge to get more specific info pertaining to quadruplets.

Have you had morning sickness? If so, what do you do to help with it?
Yes, I have morning sickness, but not in the mornings. I start feeling nauseous in the afternoon and end up throwing up after dinner. I was prescribed Phenergan (promethazine) to help with the morning sickness. It makes me really sleepy, which actually is a good thing. With my belly as big as it is, it’s hard to get a good night’s sleep.

How often do you go to the doctor?
Before coming to the hospital, I was seeing my doctor once a week.

Do they do an ultrasound at each doctor visit?
The last three visits we have had ultrasounds to check for the fluid levels in the sacs to ensure that the babies have enough nutrition, and they’re done at the Perinatal Diagnostic Centers at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

We take up three appointment spots whenever they do an ultrasound, so it makes it harder to schedule them. And the fact that there are four little babies growing in such a tight space makes it much harder for the ultrasound technician to find each baby to take measurements.

Is there anything you are taking or eating/drinking that was recommended because you have multiples?
Yes, the doctors are recommending that I drink lots of water to help minimize the amount of contractions and prune juice to help with digestion.
As for food, I am trying to minimize the refined carbs that I eat. Pregnancy hormones interfere with your body’s ability to use insulin, which processes glucose, and can cause gestational diabetes. So I’ve been eating less rice and bread and more whole-grain items along with meat, fruit, and salads.

What are you looking forward to most about being a mom?
I’ve wanted to have children since I was young, and when I was a teenager I always helped with taking care of younger cousins. I’m looking forward be able to raise children and taking care of my own babies.

How do you plan to manage your schedule with the babies?
My husband is great with spreadsheets, so he’s creating weekly schedules of family members who will be able to come during the week and on weekends. We’ll set up rotating shifts between my husband and myself, along with our friends and families. The first schedule we need is a diaper-changing schedule—we’ll be going through lots and lots of diapers every single day!