Mum of quadruplets reveals her manic daily routine
A mum of miracle quadruplets has revealed her hectic daily routine, which involves going through 40 nappies and 32 bottles a day.
A mum of miracle quadruplets has opened up about her “chaotic” mornings with four babies which involve getting up at 3am every day.
Santina Monreal, 37, had always dreamt of being a mum. But when she and husband Adrian, 37, became pregnant through IUI, it was with not one, but four babies. She gave birth to the quads in January this year.
Santina gave birth to two boys and two girls – Sebastian, Aiden, Sevilla and Aria.
Since then the couple have had to get used to juggling feeds, wake-ups and cuddles, The Sun reports.
The busy mum starts her day at 3am to pump breastmilk before going back to sleep until 6am when she rises to feed her brood and get ready for work.
Luckily her husband, Adrian, is on hand to feed the bubs throughout the day before she gets back at 7pm with another round of breastmilk.
Santina, a property manager, from Corona, California, US said: “I was feeding them every three hours to start off with.
“It was exhausting. They were going through 32 bottles a day and about 40 nappies. Now we’re down to 20 bottles a day – which is still a lot.
“It’s a mad house and exhausting but a dream come true to be a mum to four gorgeous babies.”
The family spend roughly $A200 a week on five large containers of formula – which lasts a week-and-a-half.
They do at least four loads of washing a week to clean up the messy bibs.
“It’s gets very messy after each feed,” Santina said.
“We have so many bibs as we have to replace them each time.”
As the babies are growing, they are also finding they are having to spend a lot on new clothes for them.
“I just bought the boys new pyjamas and now they look snug on them already,” she said.
But despite the now manic lifestyle, the couple couldn’t be happier as the pair had been desperate to be parents. They spent $A20,000 on six IUI attempts before falling pregnant with the quadruplets.
In September 2017, the couple conceived naturally, but sadly Santina suffered a miscarriage – she was told she had a uterine septum which can increase the likelihood of miscarriage.
Doctors removed the septum, but the couple struggled to conceive naturally again so turned to a fertility consultant for help.
Their second attempt to conceive was successful, but they lost the baby again and after five failed attempts they decided to give it one last go.
They were ecstatic to find out they were expecting in July 2020 and even more surprised when they found out they would be having quadruplets in August 2020.
After a nervous pregnancy, Santina gave birth on January 20 to two boys and two girls.
Thankfully after two months in hospital, all the babies came home and they are now thriving.
“I had felt so defeated. I thought maybe I just wasn’t meant to have my own children. But then I got not one, but four. It’s been crazy,” Santina said.
“Having quadruplets is a lot to juggle. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. They are such a miracle.”
Santina and Adrian had nearly given up hope of having their own children when they decided to go for a sixth attempt of assisted fertility treatment.
“We decided to give it one last shot. I took a pregnancy test and it was positive and I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even phone the fertility clinic like I was meant to as I just didn’t really believe it was real.”
At five weeks Santina went for an ultrasound which confirmed the pregnancy. At seven weeks they went back for another check-up – to hear the baby’s heartbeat.
“I went to the toilet and there was blood, so I was terrified I was having a miscarriage,” Santina said.
“I was expecting the worst when I went in for the scan. But the sonographer suddenly just said: ‘Oh, there’s three’. I just started laughing.
“Then she was checking the heartbeats and found a fourth one. I couldn’t believe it.”
Santina had to be monitored throughout her pregnancy as multiples pregnancies are considered high risk.
“I was terrified each time that I would lose them,” Santina said.
At 28 weeks, Santina was admitted to hospital when one of her babies had intermittent reversed blood flow of the umbilical cord artery.
She was told if one of the babies became distressed, they would all have to be delivered.
Fortunately the pregnancy managed to continue until 31 weeks.
“The doctor came in that morning and just said we would have to deliver them as one of the babies had a dip in their heart rate,” she said.
Santina was rushed for a C-section and gave birth to her four babies.
“They were all crying so it was a big relief.”
“Having them all home was amazing. Their personalities are starting to come out and they are doing so well.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
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