- Madison Collier didn’t take any fertility drugs to conceive quadruplets.
- Collier said that the babies are now four months old and that life is hectic.
- According to a doctor, the chance of getting pregnant with spontaneous quadruplets was about one in a million.
Madison Collier was a Georgia reading teacher who went in to confirm her eight-week-old pregnancy. The routine was normal until Collier was informed by the doctor that he hadn’t seen one baby in her uterus. He saw four.
Collier was first to notice something was wrong when her doctor asked her if she was taking fertility drugs. She wasn’t. Justin Collier, Collier’s husband, was unable to attend because of allergies. Collier was by herself at the appointment. Her mind immediately started racing.
“I’m like ohhh nooooo not twins!!!! And he goes no, not twins. And then I’m confused.. I’m literally thinking.. they come in more than that???? Now I’m panicked,”Collier wrote an article in Instagram post.
Collier said that she began hyperventilating after she was born, but she wasn’t certain the doctor was telling her the truth. “I honestly couldn’t believe it until he showed me on the screen,”She said.
Share the surprise
Collier was convinced that she was carrying four children and called Justin. He felt faint and had to lie on the ground.
“It’s literally the shock of a lifetime,” Collier said. Collier added: “no one expects quads,”Particularly “not natural ones.”
Isla Colliers was the Colliers’ older child. She was just 3 years old and was curious to find out what was going on. Her dad was lying on the ground, and her mom was on the phone crying. Justin informed her that she would have four younger siblings, instead of one.
“She said, ‘Do we have a plan for four babies?'” Collier said. “And Justin told her that we did not.”
One in one million
There are only around 150 setsEach year, the United States sees the birth of approximately 4,000 quadruplets and other higher-order multiples. They are most often caused by assisted reproduction. Justin and Collier were not being treated for infertility. Justin and Collier have no family history with multiples.
Dr. Kecia GitherAccording to an OB-GYN the chance of quadruplets spontaneously is between 1 in 700,000. and 1 in 1,000,000. Quad pregnancy can be caused by multiple eggs being released or eggs splitting. Collier’s quads were two boys and two daughters. However, the placentas of all the babies are different so it is not certain if they are identical twins. A simple genetic test could prove their identicality.
Courtesy of Colliers family
Having four children increases the chance of complications for both mother and baby. Preterm birth is the most common problem. Collier had to deal with this after the quads were delivered at 28 weeks gestation. The babies weighed between 2 and 5 ounces and 2 and 10 ounces. They needed to be kept in neonatal intensive-care units.
Living with 5 children
Today the quads — Calloway, Eliza, Iris, and Wilder — are 4 months old. Each day, the baby is fed and changed approximately 30 times.
“It’s a lot of work, but they’re very sweet,” Collier said. “Sometimes they support each other in crying, so it gets really loud occasionally.”
Collier had limited ability to work even before the babies were born. Isla, who has juvenile arthritis, requires frequent medical appointments. The family started a GoFundMeCollier has been assisting with the cost of their suddenly larger family.
“They’re actually really good babies,”She said. “They’ve started to smile and make sweet cooing noises. It’s the best!”