The minute their small family of three learned that it would unexpectedly grow by an additional four children at once, says mother Kendall, “I was in utter shock.”
They’re nothing short of a miracle: four little infants who overcame all odds to become the first quads in our nation in twenty years. Little Molly, Quinn, Indie, and Hudson, who are now 13 weeks old and who were all eventually released from the hospital following their historic birth in August, will at least be able to sleep next to one another in cots that will fill their cozy Timaru nursery.
In an exclusive interview with Woman’s Day, delighted parents Kendall and Joshua MacDonald, both 27, discuss how in love they are with their new son and daughters, who will be brothers to three-year-old Brooklyn.
“We tried for three years to have a second child, and finally just to get pregnant after losing another baby in between these guys was so much,” the former real estate administration employee says, her voice quivering as she recalls years of heartache brought on by infertility. “Holding four was amazing, but I always imagined holding a baby again.” The quads, who were born on August 15 at just 28 weeks and 4 days and weighed between 1.1 and 1.3 kg, started coming into the world at 2.28 am, three minutes apart from one another.
Indie is very sensitive, while Hudsou is what we like to refer to as Grumpy. He only has to hear you speak for him to start crying. Nothing can bring him joy.
Mum and Dad confess they have problems identifying their matched daughters Indie and Quinn apart because they have both a fraternal and an identical set of twins. They rely on a Vivid marker dot on one ankle to avoid confusion.
“They had name tags on in the hospital, but if I looked at them and didn’t see the tags, I couldn’t tell them apart,” Kendall admits.
The young couple admits that when they first learned that their small family of three would suddenly expand by an extra four children, they were initially shocked.
After struggling to have a second child, Kendall had been using the fertility pill clomiphene to induce ovulation. “I was in utter shock,” she remembers.
Kendall says at the start of the pregnancy, an early miscarriage scare saw her undergo a scan at just five weeks, which only showed a single baby. However, three weeks later, a second scan revealed twiпs and a third sac, with qυestion marks over the wellbeing of the third child.
“The count just kept going up,” says Kendall. “Because of this, we went for a specialised scan. It showed a third living baby, plus two babies in one sac. Duriпg the scan, I could only see three babies and at the end, I asked if all three were healthy, and she said, ‘No, all four are healthy!’”.
The pregnancy was marred by severe morniпg sickness that didn’t ease until the halfway point. “Apart from the threat of miscarriage at the start, I never had a single problem with the babies. They were fine. It was just me that was struggling. Once I hit 23 weeks, I went downhill really fast because the babies were getting so big and I couldn’t breathe or walk.
Nothing can make things better when you’re going through it, not even lying down! You are unable to move or change positions in bed. It was very awful. I was chasing a toddler around on top of that!”
It would be three more weeks until Kendall gave birth after growing to the size of a single full-term pregnancy at 25 weeks; she had now moved to Christchurch in preparation for the delivery.
They anticipated that I would give birth at any point after 25 weeks. I was still having healthy babies at 28 weeks and 3 days. When I tried to get into bed that night, I couldn’t settle down; I kept tossing and turning.
“Then I sat up and realised the uncomfortable feeling was my stomach tightening. It was happening every minute, then every 30 seconds, but didn’t hurt. I wondered if this was labour, so I rang my midwife and she told me to go to the hospital. I got there at midnight and ended up having a C-section straight away.” Kendall didn’t see her newborns for the first time until four hours later, when Josh wheeled her out onto her bed.
“It was very challenging for me. I hadn’t slept in more than 24 hours and was still healing from the C-section. They let us to touch the newborns and take pictures of them while they were still operating on them and inserting tubes. It was such a bizarre situation. You struggled to accept what was happening. But I wish I had postponed going to see them because when I did, I started crying. Josh, who saw the quads for the first time with his wife, says, “It was surreal. “We always believed the best would happen, but
Hudson has been diagnosed with scoliosis – a curvature of the spine – but the extent of the condition will not be known until he starts growing. Similarly, Indie will also be closely assessed by physio-therapists. “But we don’t know with her either until she grows more,” explains Kendall. Yet the biggest health shock has been the sudden decline of Molly, who until a few weeks ago was sailing through her first 10 weeks. With Molly still needing to be in hospital care up until last week and Hudson staying with her to keep her company, it was just twins Indie and Quinn at the family home, with doting big brother Brooklyn keeping watch and planting kisses on their foreheads.
The pair is prepared for the nonstop stream of bottles, diapers, washing, and interrupted sleep thanks to the army of helpers on hand, including a nanny.
“We knew once all four came home, we’d need four arms to feed them, so that’s going to be a challenge,” acknowledges Kendall.
Josh said that they have been overwhelmed by the help from their South Canterbury community, including from total strangers. “So many strangers who we don’t know have been bringing us food, cash, and clothes. I was utterly shocked by that. The mother-of-five rushes for her distressed little one and tenderly rubs his back while holding him close to calm him. We’re aware of our good fortune. Almost nobody experiences this. Triplets are massive, but quads are
