With the odds of having identical quadruplets at 1 in 15 million, Texas Children’s is thrilled to be part of the rare and awe-inspiring births of Hannah, Rebecca, Lucy and Petra – identical girls born to Mercedes and Jonathan on May 1. The lucky parents expected to add one sibling to their family of two boys – not four small sisters! The girls were conceived without assistance from fertility treatments, and are now part of a small legion of medical miracles that data and news sources put at only 75 occurrences.
Mercedes expressed her happiness in a USA TODAY article saying, “I’m excited about being able to raise these girls, and this next chapter…I know it’s going to be crazy, but I’m looking forward to this.”
“It was a privilege to be part of the team that took care of them and their four girls. The team included our front desk team, our sonographers who were doing ultrasounds every two weeks on four babies, our nurses and many more,” said Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist Dr. Manisha Gandhi.
“In addition, our maternal-fetal medicine team followed mom closely due to the increased risk for complications with monochorionic pregnancies, our delivery and postpartum team quickly got together to prepare for her unscheduled C-section, and our neonatal teams organized for the delivery and have been caring for the girls,” added Dr. Gandhi. “A team effort, for sure, for a family that doubled in size from four to eight in one day!”
A real point of pride for staff associated with the high-risk pregnancy is the fact that the quadruplets are doing so well. While they were delivered via C-section at 29 weeks gestation, there were no major complications. The babies are expected to be released from the NICU and sent home by mid-summer.
“I am truly thankful for being able to experience such an amazing event with amazing parents…seeing the quad delivery was a moment of awe, times four,” said staff nurses Jennifer Grimsley and Mae Idul. “As One Amazing Team, we were able to bring quad-joy to this family,” added staff nurse Theresa Pham.
Anesthesiologist Dr. Rakesh Narayan said it was a “privilege to work with a high quality team to provide exceptional care for the delivery of quadruplets for this patient.”
“Witnessing the intricate coordination amongst the team and seeing four healthy babies born filled me with an overwhelming sense of fulfillment, knowing that my role contributed to a successful outcome for parents and their newborn babies,” said surgical technologist Darian Hopson.
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