IVF was not used by 31-year-old Katalina Davies to conceive her four children, but she worried about it all through her pregnancy. When Matt Davies and Katalina Martin began dating in 2012, they both made the decision they wanted more kids. Faith, who is now 11, and Callum, who is now 10, each have children of their own, but they are both yearning to have a child together. Sadly, it’s difficult, and numerous pregnancy tests have come up negative. Up until one day in 2014, when Katalina, then 31, saw two blue lines that indicated she was expecting a child. My surprise was that it was actually FOUR, not a baby.
In a situation that is thought to be unique in the UK, Katalina’s fertilized eggs independently at once, generating four quadruplets whose senses are not similar, beating 700,000 in 1 odd to conceive quadruplets without in vitro fertilization. I questioned whether the sonographer could hear my heartbeat as I lay on the scanning table. The doctors informed me they believed I had polycystic ovaries, which would make it challenging for me to get pregnant, so I was overjoyed to be pregnant. In an effort to make it easier for me to conceive, they gave me a modest dose of the medication, but as the months passed, I experienced disappointment each time. I believed that becoming a mother was something I would never experience because every month makes me feel like I crushed.
However, I eventually received a positive pregnancy test. When I took a glance at the test strip in my palm, I couldn’t believe it. I was thrilled to learn that I was finally pregnant when I noticed the two tiny blue lines. But I was quite concerned since I was experiencing terrible stomach ache. When I returned with my blood test results a few days later, the physicians called me. My blood test results were odd, they said, and I needed to arrive right away. My mind is racing as I’m lying on the bed getting scanned. I had to have my Ballopian tubes removed because I was concerned about the ectopic pregnancy.
I won’t ever have children of my own. The sonographer stares at the screen for a seemingly endless amount of time. I know something is wrong. Is she going to tell me it’s ectopic? Or is there no heartbeat? But nothing could prepare me or what I was about to hear.
The doctors advised us about the risks of multiple pregnancies, and advised keeping 1 or 2 babies. To ensure the safety of both mother and baby during pregnancy. But the love of a mother did not allow me to do that, I have no right to take the lives of my children. It was nature’s way, and I wanted to see what happened, to take the opportunity. Normally, spontaneously conceived quadruplets occur when one or more embryos split, but experts have never heard it happen like this before. I am unique, and so are my children. They all have to be given a chance. I had morning sickness until I was 12 weeks pregnant, and then luckily everything went smoothly until I was 30 weeks. My belly is absolutely huge. I kept telling Matt that I couldn’t believe it would get any bigger, but it just kept growing.
I was 27 weeks pregnant when I was brought to St. Mary’s Hospital in Manchester in the beginning of 2015, and I was forced to stay in bed in an effort to delay an early delivery. When I was 30 weeks pregnant in February, the quadruplets were delivered via caesarean section. The due date for their delivery was 32 weeks, but due to my preeclampsia, it had to happen two weeks earlier. Sofia, Roman, Aston, and Amelia all have weights between 3Ib 11oz and 3Ib 7oz. The fact that they were all born healthy and safe made me ecstatic. After a few days, we were able to bring them home, where we discovered that they each had distinct personalities. They all originate from unique eggs that contain unique placentas and sacs.
Aston is always cheerful and smiling, Sofia loves her food and is very calm, Roman may be the smallest but loudest and everyone loves Amelia. It was hard work and cost us £200 a week. They have to bottle feed because I can’t produce enough milk for all of them. Usually two babies cry when the first two are fed. I change 20 diapers a day and each baby eats up six bottles of milk a day. Matt and I wanted another baby, but we never imagined we’d have another. Our family is definitely done by now. We will not try again or another baby.
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