The story of newlyweds Bethani and Tim Webb started out like many others when they came to learn they would be having a baby.
At first, Bethani was thrilled to discover the news that she was pregnant, although the husband was not quite as ready.
Bethani told CBS News, “My husband was definitely wanting to wait a year to have children….I was completely fine with whenever it ended up happening, but when we found out, we were very excited.”
But what they didn’t realize is that they would be getting more than they bargained for. Their happy surprise would soon turn into a more complicated reaction upon what they heard next.
Having planned to tell their families during Christmas in 2015, the couple scheduled an ultrasound just a few days before.
Upon looking at the ultrasound, the technician ominously asked Bethani if there had been a history of multiple births in the family. Puzzled at first, the technician went on to explain.
Bethani had wondered if perhaps she was to have twins but as the technician counted up to four, her proverbial jaw dropped.
In describing her reaction, Bethani said, “I was thinking, ‘Okay, you can stop at baby three. Baby three is more than enough for me’, but then she counted out the fourth baby.” And as for Tim: well he just about fell over.
The ultrasound revealed not one but four children in the womb and that could mean only one thing…
Quadruplets! The occurrence of quadruplets is so rare that it only affects one in every 800,000 pregnancies. But it does happen, nevertheless.
The couple was not prepared for quadruplets, especially considering there was no family history, nor did they take any fertility drugs. Being a parent to one child is hard enough. Can you imagine taking care of four babies at once?
And it turned out the doctors and nurses were as equally surprised as the young couple. But lucky for them, they wouldn’t have to be taking them all home.
We’d love to tell you that they were completely thrilled by the idea of four new bundles of joy but let’s be realistic…They were about to flip out. The news of four children was overwhelming, to say the least. And they even wondered if it was all a joke.
But mother nature plays no jokes - and nor were they dreaming. So, once they finally pinched themselves, the reality of the situation dawned upon them.
At Christmas, the couple told their family the news just as planned but the news for them was no longer as exciting as it was scary.
The doctors had told them that only about 3,500 sets of quadruplets had been born since 2007. And now somehow they were “lucky.”
Bethani lamented, “This was not the Christmas news I was hoping for. I definitely had some panic attacks from it.”
Meanwhile, Tim recalled “That day with the ultrasound, when they counted out four babies, I actually felt quite faint. I had to ask for a seat because it was too much all at once for me.”
Upon telling their families, they too wondered if it was all a joke, particularly Tim’s sister, given the fact that Tim was a known prankster in the family.
As for the reaction of his friends, Tim said, “My friends were like, ‘We don’t know whether we should say congratulations to you or we’re sorry for your situation.’”
(Image via Facebook; Facebook)
But it wasn’t just the actual raising of four kids that was the concern for Bethani and Tim. There were also practical things to consider, and moreover, the finances.
Tim said: “We definitely had enough love to give to all four of them, but I was just very worried about how we were going to afford four babies with everything they need.”
On top of that, they had to consider car space. “I realized that we did not have a vehicle that could support four babies,” Bethani expressed. “We were good until that four number kicked in and then we were not prepared at all.”
And indeed, they were not prepared. So, many things to consider when you suddenly have four kids dropped in your lap and simply not enough time to prepare for it.
Diapers and formula would be major expenses as well. On average, a baby consumes about 12 cans of formula each month and when you consider one can could cost as much as $20, that’s $240 worth of formula per baby.
And as for diapers, a baby will use about 12 of those per day and among four babies that would mean they would be using a whole pack of diapers every day. Yikes!
Luckily their friends and family were there to help! They started a GoFundMe page to help assist them financially.
For those that don’t know, GoFundMe allows people to create fundraisers that anyone can then donate to in order to raise money for certain causes. And this was certainly an event that called for it!
Just days before her babies were born, Bethani expressed her feelings about the imminent birth. She said, “I am excited, but it is weird when they start to move around in my belly. Sometimes, I will feel more than one move at once, and it kind of takes me by surprise, even being 27 weeks pregnant. I do not think it has sunk in that there are four in there yet.”
However, she would not be giving natural birth as doctors did not feel comfortable letting her carry to the full term, so the doctors planned for a C-section in her 33rd week of pregnancy.
Bethani would deliver her baby at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. The hospital was large, had the proper equipment to handle the delivery and there was a neonatal intensive care unit present on-site.
While giving birth to quadruplets is often considered to come with a higher risk, the delivery went rather smoothly.
The final ultrasound checkup revealed a brand-new surprise. All the babies would be girls! Tim was now outnumbered.
“That is a lot of female hormones that I will have to deal with someday. Of course, I will also have to fight off the boys that chase after my daughters. It’s going to be a full-time job, “ Tim said.
The Webb daughters came into the world on May 6, 2016. Tim stood in awe as he watch the doctor pull the babies out one at a time. And as they were laid out, it became apparent that the girls were all identical. Another surprise!
For a little perspective on just how rare an occurrence this was, it is said that the chances of identical quadruplets is just one in 15,000,000.
Although born prematurely, the babies were born relatively happy and healthy. The parents, on the other hand, were still quite overwhelmed.
The baby girls were named Emily, Abigail, Grace, and McKayla. The family now all lives together with Tim’s mother in her home. And it is said that the residents of Hythe pitch in as they can.
