A woman in Texas has given birth to “mind-blowing” identical quadruplets, a big surprise for her third pregnancy.
Mercedes Sandhu, 34, and her husband Jonathan, 37, already a mother of two, welcomed Hannah Grace, Lucy Marie, Rebecca Claire and Petra Anne on May 1 without the help of IVF, an event which occurs one in 15 million.
Babies are in the hospital receiving nutrition through a feeding tube and breathing with the help of a CPAP machine.
At first, Mrs. Sandhu did not believe her doctor when he told her about what she described as “four small spots” on her ultrasound; Neither did her husband. She kept asking him on the phone if she was joking.
The Texas couple, both engineers, have two sons, Luke, 3, and Aaron, 18 months.
Mercedes Sandhu gave birth to four identical babies on May 1. They weighed just over two pounds and will remain in the neonatal intensive care unit until at least July.
Giving birth to four identical babies without the help of fertility drugs is extremely rare. There are only about 72 documented cases and only a handful of cases in the United States.
Multiple pregnancies almost always result in babies being born prematurely, before 37 weeks, requiring them to stay in the hospital sometimes for up to months.
Quadruplets are the result of the division of a single fertilized egg into four embryos.
Babies from multiple births are also more likely to be born with some congenital effects of childbirth, including spina bifida.
Hannah Grace, Lucy Marie, Rebecca Claire and Petra Anne were born weighing between two pounds, seven ounces and two pounds, 13 ounces.
Having multiple babies fills the uterus, which means the babies may not grow as expected.
Its small size is also because the placenta, which supplies blood to all four fetuses, cannot feed as many babies.
Babies born prematurely may not have fully developed lungs, brains, or other organs, and their immune systems may not be ready to fight infections.
The babies are doing well and will likely return home in July to join Sandhu’s other sons, Luke, 3, and Aaron, 18 months.
The babies were born at 29 weeks, about eight weeks less than a normal gestation. This is not uncommon in multiple pregnancies, often because the placenta has to work overtime to nourish them all in a crowded uterus where the babies may not be able to grow normally.
Sandhu’s third pregnancy came as a surprise. At first, Sandhu did not believe that his wife was pregnant with four babies, which poses a risk to both the mother and the babies.
Sandhu’s pregnancy is the 73rd ever confirmed. Because multiple pregnancies are high risk, Mom and Dad were overjoyed to find that their babies were overall healthy.
mrs sandhu saying: ‘So we didn’t try it in any way, but we were excited. We loved the idea of giving our children another sibling. But when we found out there were four of them… Holy shit!
“Holy cow,” her husband repeated.
Mrs. Sandhu, already an experienced first-time mother, told her husband that it would not be necessary to accompany her to her first doctor’s appointment; there would be many more scans to attend, she said.
But when the doctor showed her the four heads on the computer monitor, Ms. Sandhu said she became “a little hysterical.”
When she told her husband the shocking news, he didn’t believe her at first.
The doctor detailed the countless risks that come with having quadruplets, or any multiple baby.
Having multiple babies could leave the mother anemic, meaning she doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout her body.
You may also see excessive bleeding after childbirth due to an overly distended uterus.
Women with multiple fetuses are also twice as likely to develop high blood pressure during pregnancy and more likely to miscarry during the first trimester.
Sundhu said: “The odds of conceiving identical quadruplets are mind-blowing.” So the chances of them getting through anything are very slim compared to that.”