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 twins are thought to be the first quadruplets to be born in New Zealand since the 1990s. Quadruplets have a one in 729,000 chance of being born, and despite being three months old, they are already thriving.
It was so difficult for Kendall Walker, 28, and her husband Joshua MacDonald of Timaru, New Zealand, to simply have another baby after three years of trying to conceive one. They had always fantasized about having another child, so having four was incredible. The couple sought to look out the cause because they wanted to start a family.
“After meeting with a private physician, he concurred that everything was not going in my favor, including PCOS, ss, significant scarring, and issues brought on by the x s s,” she stated. But the biggest issue was that I didn’t, which is crucial for getting pregnant. I was scheduled for a surgery to attempt to correct some of the damage, but in the meanwhile, I was given Clomiphene, a drug that aids in.
She made a lot of effort, but it was in vain until she got a call. She was expecting. As soon as Joshua arrived home from work, she had the test ready for him. Joshua felt content, but like her, it was challenging to smile. It didn’t take long for the recognizable indications of a “s” to return. However, the checkup revealed that the infant was healthy and had a regular heart rate.
“I was in absolute shock,” she claimed. I simply couldn’t help myself because I was! Josh, on the other hand, was the complete opposite and remained silent. He was quite excited but s. We certainly made up for it since we had hoped for a few years to only have one more child!
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!
