The couple, from County Limerick, Ireland, spent four years trying to have children and ᴛʀᴀɢɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ sᴜғғᴇʀᴇᴅ four ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs. Grace and James Slattery had sᴜғғᴇʀᴇᴅ such ʜᴇᴀʀᴛᴀᴄʜᴇ with every ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ they decided to ɴᴏᴛ go through ⒾⓋⒻ ᴛʀᴇᴀ ᴛ ᴍᴇɴᴛ, and they gave up on their dream of having a baby together. It was then that, incredibly, the couple received the news that Slattery had become ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ quite naturally. What came next was even more of an sʜᴏᴄᴋ: she was ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ with quadruplets. She dᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs said that the story really is a ᴍɪʀᴀᴄʟᴇ, as the chances of conceiving quadruplets naturally are around one in 10,000.
Grace said: “We call them our Fantastic Four. We canɴᴏᴛ believe that our babies are already seven months old. Babies are our ᴍɪʀᴀᴄʟᴇs, we are blessed. Just when we thought we couldn’t take it anymore and were ready to give up, we received the best news of all. I really want to encourage other women to keep trying, because if we had given up, we wouldn’t have the babies we have now.” The couple still remembers how they had almost given up hope of having the family they always dreamed of.
Even when they were told that she was ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ, they ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴄʏɴɪᴄᴀʟ because of the four previous ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs who had sᴜғғᴇʀ ᴇᴅ. Grace said: “When we did the first baby scan, we thought we ʟᴏsᴛ would have another baby. But we got amazing news that we were definitely fine, everything was fine, and we were actually having quads. We left with mixed emotions as we were essentially told ɴᴏᴛ to hold our breath as quads usually ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ”. Fortunately, the babies were finally born the day before Ms. Slattery had a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ at 32 weeks and six days. Amelia Helen was the heaviest at 4 pounds 3 ounces, and Mollie Rose was the smallest at 2 pounds 15 ounces.
Slattery had a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ at 32 weeks and six days. Amelia Helen was the heaviest at 4 pounds 3 ounces, and Mollie Rose was the smallest at 2 pounds 15 ounces. Slattery had a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ at 32 weeks and six days. Amelia Helen was the heaviest at 4 pounds 3 ounces, and Mollie Rose was the smallest at 2 pounds 15 ounces.
Grace said: “They’ve all definitely grown a lot in the last two years. It’s great to see all their individual personalities come out, Amelia is very feisty, Mollie is the mom of the group, Lily-Grace is very smart, while Lucas loves to do boyish things. Thankfully they all sleep through the night now, it got really hard at one point, so when they were 19 months old we jumped on a sleep trainer.
James is amazing too, we call him the ‘quad dad’, he works full time but he still manages to help me with the kids before he goes to work and when he gets home. The next big challenge is potty training, now that’s going to be fun. We are very happy that our babies survived, parenting is not easy,
She added: “Everything will get just as good as they learn new things, get faster.” I have to keep my eyes on them at all times and we have had to completely baby proof the house. Our sitting room is now a games room, we had to put away the sofas and the coffee table units are gone. Instead, it’s filled with a big playpen, soft mats, and toys that are really safe, so if I need to run upstairs or use the bathroom, I know they’re okay for a minute. No day is the same and from the moment they wake up everything happens until they go to bed again.
The quads get along well and love each other very much, they communicate very well with each other and almost have their own language. They are good at sharing and teamwork, if they want to do something, they will work together. Of course they fight a lot too, I often catch them pushing or pulling their hair and there’s always someone throwing a tantrum, but luckily they usually ɴᴏᴛ at the same time. Watching the quads reach every milestone is so rewarding, they are our fantastic four and we wouldn’t have our lives any other way.
