The couple, from County Limerick, Ireland, spend four years trying to have children and ᴛʀᴀɢɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ sᴜғғᴇʀᴇᴅ four ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs. Grace and James Slattery had sᴜғғᴇʀᴇᴅ such ʜᴇᴀʀᴛᴀᴄʜᴇ with each ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ they decided ɴᴏᴛ to put themselves through ⒾⓋⒻ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ, and gave up their dream of having a baby together. It was then that, incredibly, the couple received the news that Slattery had become ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ completely naturally. What came next was even more of a sʜᴏᴄᴋ: she was ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ with quadruplets. Dᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs said the story really is a ᴍɪʀᴀᴄʟᴇ, as the chances of conceiving quadruplets naturally is around one in 10,000.
Grace said: ” We call them our fantastic four. We canɴᴏᴛ believe our babies are seven months old now. The babies are our ᴍɪʀᴀᴄʟᴇs, we are blessed. Just when we thought we couldn’t go through any more and we were ready to give up, we received the best news ever. I really want to encourage other women to keep trying, because if we’d given up we wouldn’t have the babies we do now.” The couple still remember how they had almost given up hope of having the family they always dreamed of. Even when they were told she was ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ, they ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴄʏɴɪᴄᴀʟ because of the four previous ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs they’d sᴜғғᴇʀᴇᴅ. Grace said: ” When we went for the babies’ first scan we thought we’d ʟᴏsᴛ another baby. But we were given amazing news that we were definitely ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ, everything was well 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.” Thanlfully, the babies were finally born the day before Mrs Slattery was due to have a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ at 32 weeks and six days. Amelia Helen was the heaviest at 4lbs 3oz, and Mollie Rose was the smallest weighing 2lbs 15oz.
Grace said: ” They’ve definitely all grown up a lot over the past two years. It’s great to see all of their individual personalities coming out too, Amelia is very feisty, Mollie is the mommy of the group, Lily-Grace is a very smart, while Lucas loves just doing boy things. Thankfully they all now sleep straight through the night, it got really ʙᴀᴅ at one point so when they were 19 months old we got in a sleep coach. James is amazing too, we call him the ‘Quad Father,’ he works full-time but still manages to help me out 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 so glad our babies survived, parenting isn’t easy, especially when you have four it’s really hard work but they are worth every second.”
She added :” Everything’s going to get even ᴄʀᴀᴢɪᴇʀ as they learn new things, get faster on their feet. I have to keep my eyes on them at all times and we’ve had to full baby proof the house. Our sitting room is now a playroom, we’ve had to put the couches in storage and the coffee table units are gone. Instead it’s filled with a huge playpen, soft floor mats and toys which are really safe so if I need to run upstairs or use the toilet I know they’re okay for a minute. No one day is ever the same and from the minute they wake it’s all go until they go to bed again. The quads get on well and love each other very much, they’re extremely good at communicating with one another and almost have their own little language. They’re good at sharing and teamwork, if they want to get something done they’ll work together. Of course they fight a lot too, I often catch them pushing or pulling each other’s hair and there’s always someone having a tantrum – but thankfully usually ɴᴏᴛ at the same time. Watching the quads hit every milestone is so rewarding, they’re our fantastic four and we wouldn’t have our lives any other way.
