A mum-of-five has revealed her ᴀɴɢᴜɪꜱʜ when doctors told her she should terminate two of her babies after finding out she was expecting quadruplets.
Kendall MacDonald, 27, from Timaru in Nᴇᴡ Zᴇᴀʟᴀɴᴅ, and her husBᴀɴd Josh are Fpcosproud parents to six-month-old quads and a three-year-old son named Brooklyn. Nᴇᴡ Zᴇᴀʟᴀɴᴅ’s first quadruplets in 20 years are now ready to be introduced to the country.
With Kendall, 27, suffering from polycystic ovaries, she confessed it was a “sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇ” when she fell Pʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ the first time. Beginning trying when Brooklyn was just two-months-old, over the next few years they tried to fall Pʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ again without success, with Kendall suffering a Mɪꜱᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇꜱ
As well as having medical conditions which made falling Pʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ hard, Mrs MacDonald also suffered from toxic sʜᴏᴄᴋ syndrome following the birth of her first child when part of the placenta was left in her body. This left her with scarring on her uterus, which doctors told her would make it difficult for her to fall Pʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ as well as Cᴀʀʀʏ a baby to term
After their second try they were delighted to discover Kendall was Pʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ. The couple were overjoyed when an early scan revealed a healthy heartBᴇᴀᴛ, but they weren’t prepared for what was to follow.
At her nine week scan a second heartBᴇᴀᴛ appeared, and a third scan revealed a further two heartBᴇᴀᴛs. Kendall said: “We’d gone from one baby, to two, then three then four. It was a Hᴜɢᴇ sʜᴏᴄᴋ.”
They added it was a massive sʜᴏᴄᴋ as no multiples ran in their families, and they never expected to be Pʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ with four babies. But as the reality sank in, Kendall was told she needed to make a tough choice. At 12 weeks the mum-to-be was told that there was a chance none of her babies would survive, and she was advised to terminate two of the foetuses to increase the survival chances of the other pair.
They were given two weeks to decide, but sought second opinions. One doctor agreed she should have the fetal reduction, but the other said if she wanted to go ahead with all four then she should. Armed with this information, Kendall and Josh decided to keep all their babies.
They were told she needed to make it to 28 weeks for them to have a ғɪɢʜᴛing chance of survival, and the pair moved nearer the hospital just in case. Quinn, Indie, Hudson and Molly were born at Christchurch Women’s Hospital on the August 15, at 28 weeks and four days, to parents Kendall and Joshua MacDonald, and big brother – 3-year-old Brooklyn. Ranging from 2.57lbs to 2.88lbs, Molly, Hudson, Indie and Quinn were rushed to intensive care.
Because they were born so early, they’d need to spend time in NICU connected to breathing tubes because they weren’t able to breathe on their own. It would be seven weeks before they’d be able to be hugged, and another three before they’d be given the all clear to go home.
Baby Molly would need to spend a further two weeks in the hospital because she wasn’t feeding well. At 12 weeks, with all her children at finally at home, Mrs MacDonald said she finally ‘felt like a mum of five’. The quads were the first in 20 years to be born in Nᴇᴡ Zᴇᴀʟᴀɴᴅ.
