Picture: Marr family
A woman from Dallas defied incredibly small odds (one in 15 million!) when she gave birth to identical quadruplets in March last year.
Giving birth to identical quadruplets is undoubtedly an accomplishment during ‘normal’ times, let alone in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
First-time parents Jenny and Chris Marr, 35, spent two months in NICU with their boys.
Picture: Marr family
The couple told Good Morning America they were “absolutely floored” when they were initially told they would be having triplets, which then became quads at their follow-up appointment a week later.
“The tech, who was doing the initial scan, gave me a funny look,” Chris told Today. “We were like, ‘Oh, what’s going on now?’ We got worried again. She said, ‘I’m not supposed to say this, but y’all got four babies.’
“I made the joke that I am not coming back because there are going to be five babies next time,” he continued. “We were just shocked. Jumping from three to four was easier to swallow.”
Picture: Marr family
Jenny went into labor at 28 weeks on March 15 2020, the day before Dallas County\’s stay-at-home orders were issued. The four babies — Hudson, Harrison, Henry and Hardy — were born at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas by c-section within three minutes. Harrison was first born, weighing 2 pounds 6 ounces, followed by Hardy at 2 pounds 10 ounces, Henry at 2 pounds 6.7 ounces, and Hudson at just 1 pound 15 ounces.
Jenny told Today: ‘We called them our baby birds because they really looked like baby birds.’ The family are adjusting to life at home during a pandemic – with hour-long feeds every three hours.
Jenny joked: ‘Oh my gosh, we can’t tell them apart, it’s so bad. I actually lined them up for a photo and showed Chris and said “which one’s which?” I sent it to my family too, and nobody got it right.’
Picture: Marr family
Perhaps the craziest part is that neither Jenny nor Chris have a history of multiples in their family and Jenny wasn’t on fertility treatments. There are only around 72 documented cases of spontaneous, identical quadruplets, ever! Even rarer, doctors found that the four babies were sharing a placenta, meaning one could potentially have developed stronger than the rest.
The new mom-of-four shared a heart-warming Facebook post of the babies alongside their dog Zeke, where she thanked the NICU and Special Care doctors and nurses. It read: ‘Having babies during a global pandemic has been quite the experience. Everyone at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas made us and our babies priority for care and safety. I only hope that one day I can hug each of them and say thank you. Thank you for getting our sweet preemie babies into the world safely, for believing in them that they could exceed all expectations.’
Picture: Marr family
Congratulations, Jenny and Chris, on your beautiful boys!
