New Zealand’s first set of quadruplets born in 20 years have been introduced to the world after photographer Cassandra English unveiled a series of heartwarming and stunning portraits. The three girls, Quinn, Indie and Molly and boy, Hudson, were born at Christchurch Women’s Hospital on the August 15, at 28 weeks and four days, to parents Kendall and Joshua MacDonald. They also have a three-year-old brother, Brooklyn.
The fraternal and identical set of twins are believed to be New Zealand’s first set of quadruplets since the 1990s. The chances of having ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴀʟʟʏ ᴏᴄᴄᴜʀʀɪɴɢ quads is ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ɪɴ 729,000, and despite being born three months ᴇᴀʀʟʏ, they are now thriving.
Kendall Walker, 28, and husband Joshua MacDonald from Timaru, New Zealand tried for three years to have a second child and finally just to get ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ after ʟᴏsɪɴɢ another baby in between these guys was so much. They always imagined holding a baby again, but to get four was amazing. Desiring to have a child, the couple went to check the cause.
She said: “After meeting with a private specialist, he agreed that everything was not working in my favor, PCOS, ᴇɴᴅᴏᴍᴇᴛʀɪᴏsɪs, major scarring and problems as a result of the ᴛᴏxɪᴄ sʜᴏᴄᴋ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ. But the main problem was that I didn’t ᴏᴠᴜʟᴀᴛᴇ – a pivotal necessity to getting pregnant. I was booked in for a sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ to try and fix some of the ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇ done, but in the meantime I was put on to Clomiphene – medication to help a person ᴏᴠᴜʟᴀᴛᴇ.”
She tried really hard but to no avail until she received a call. She was pregnant. As soon as Joshua got home from work she had the test waiting there for her husband. Joshua was happy, but like her, it was hard to put a smile on their face. It wasn’t long again before the familiar signs of a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ started to show. However, through the examination, the baby was healthy with a normal ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ rate.
She said :”I was in utter sʜᴏᴄᴋ. I was just ʏᴇʟʟɪɴɢ, I couldn’t help myself! Whereas Josh was quite the opposite and didn’t say a word. He very excited but sᴄᴀʀᴇᴅ. We had tried for a few years to only have one more child, so we certainly made up for it!”
Kendall says at the start of the ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, an ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ sᴄᴀʀᴇ sᴀᴡ her undergo a scan at just five weeks, which only showed a single baby. However, three weeks later, a second scan revealed twins and a third sac, with ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴ ᴍᴀʀᴋs over the wellbeing of the third child.
She said : “We had only ᴊᴜsᴛ ғᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ we were having twins, but now we were having triplets! How does this even happen. Pᴜʀᴇ sʜᴏᴄᴋ but excitement. We had wanted this for so long, we were lucky enough to get three. The scan went on, Josh and I discussed our life with triplets. We would need a bigger house, a bigger car, would they be girls or boys? So many questions and emotions. At the end of the scan I asked the lady if all three were healthy withʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙᴇᴀᴛs. She replied, ‘No, all FOUR are healthy with ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙᴇᴀᴛs.’ I yelled over and over. Four babies?! Is that even possible. No one has four babies. I wasn’t even doing ⒾⓋⒻ. There must be a mistake, I can’t be having four babies! But as she showed me and pointed them out, there they all were – quadruplets.”
They met with a specialist, who encouraged them to reduce the pregnancy to two children because carrying four carries a ʀɪsᴋ of ꜰᴇᴛᴀʟ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs. However, they decided to keep all of them. In the end, 4 babies were born healthy by ᴄᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ section and more than 40 people participated in the birth. Quinn Ruby MacDonald, Indie Grace MacDonald, Hudson Joseph MacDonald and Molly Ella MacDonald were born ranging from 2.4 to 2.8 pounds. Although the babies were born with no immediate problems except for normal issues being born so early, they each had a long road ahead of them.
At first, all four babies were in the neonatal intensive care unit. According to the parents of 4 children, during this time, Molly was the first to achieve important developmental milestones. Then Hudson completed the skill to breathe on his own without the need for an oxygen tube. Thanks to that, Hudson was allowed to share a room with Molly. Meanwhile, Indie and Quinn are identical twins, both showing equally good progress. Two babies sharing a double cot. Joshua and his wife confided: “Every day is extremely busy for us.” For them, there is not a day when emotions are not as intense as in a roller coaster