A heartbroken woman who lost four children is now mother to rare identical quadruplets she conceived naturally.
Karissa Vancamp-Smith, 34, and her husband, Dillon, 32, discovered they were pregnant in December 2021.
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They were shocked when the sonographer revealed they were having quads in a private six-week scan following a miscarriage, a stillbirth and two infant deaths.
It was only when Karissa gave birth, at 29 weeks and three days, that they discovered that her quadriceps were identical.
The babies, Zackariah Dever, 2 pounds, 15 ounces; Lincoln Jesse, 2 pounds, 6 ounces; Ian Shane, 2 pounds 6 ounces; and 1-pound Daniel Robert were born via cesarean section on June 17, 2022, and returned home seven weeks later.
“I had a wonderful pregnancy, but after developing pre-eclampsia, the doctors decided to deliver the baby early,” said Karissa, a pediatric nurse from Phelps, New York.
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“After my previous miscarriages, I knew I couldn’t handle it if I lost another one.
“Finding out we were going to have ATVs was a huge shock, but it almost felt like fate.”
Karissa and Dillon, a mechanic, were “hesitant” about trying to have another child after a miscarriage, a stillbirth and two infant deaths over eight years.
The mother of six lost her first set of twins, Lucas and Ryan, in July 2014 after going into premature labor at 20 weeks.
“Lucas was stillborn and Ryan lived for seven minutes – that hit us hard,” Karissa said.
“We held a private funeral and planted trees in their memory in our garden.
“Dillon and I always wanted kids, but we gave ourselves time to grieve before trying again.”
Heartbroken but desperate for a baby, the couple of 10 years tried again four months later — and Karissa immediately got pregnant.
She gave birth to Tyler, who weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces, at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo on May 30, 2015.
“When Tyler showed up, healthy and happy, we were so happy,” she said of her now 8-year-old son.
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In June 2017, Karissa became pregnant with twins again, but at 23 weeks and three days, she went into silent preterm labor on November 7, 2017, leading to the birth of Elijah and Colton via cesarean section.
Elijah died 12 days later from necrotizing pneumonia (NP) – a rare but serious lung disease.
“I didn’t have any signs that I was going into labor, but I knew something wasn’t right,” Karissa said.
“Colton was up to his hips in my birth canal and I had to deliver him immediately.
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“Three days after they were born, we discovered that Colton had a grade four bleed in his brain and had a 10% chance of survival, but we chose to fight for him.
“On the 12th, Elijah got an infection, but it was too late to save him – my heart broke.”
Colton, now 6, spent 132 days in the hospital and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in November 2019.
“For the first year of Colton’s life, we were in and out of the hospital because his immune system was nonexistent,” Karissa said.
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“It took us a while to adjust to life with a child with special needs, but he is our little fighter – we are proud of him.
“It was at this time that I discovered I had an incompetent cervix, so I had surgery to avoid premature birth again.
Two years after Colton’s birth, in August 2019, Karissa became pregnant again with Willa Grace, but lost her at 14 weeks after her heart stopped beating.
“We were completely broke,” she said.
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“At this point, I had lost four babies and I couldn’t go through that pain again.”
In October 2021, Karissa felt ready to try again and became pregnant two months later – an early scan revealed she had quadriceps.
“Immediately two babies appeared on the screen, and then a third baby appeared, and then a fourth,” she said.
“We were speechless.”
Karissa managed to carry the quadruplets until 29 weeks and three days, until pre-eclampsia forced doctors to deliver them on June 17, 2022, at Strong Memorial Hospital.
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“Given my history, I made sure every pain I felt was checked out by a doctor,” she said.
“I was dehydrated and my blood pressure was through the roof, so I was in hospital for 10 days before the boys had to leave.
“I was terrified, but I tried to stay calm for my babies.
“We had no idea they were identical until a doctor noticed the similarity and the unique placenta.
“They were healthy, but remained in the hospital due to prematurity.”
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Seven weeks later, Karrisa and Dillon have taken their ATVs home and are now looking forward to celebrating their second anniversary.
“A lot of things had to change – I had to give up full-time work and had sleepless nights,” said the mother.
“My house is very noisy, as each of my boys has a mind of their own, and I am up to my eyeballs doing laundry.
“They are almost two years old now and have become individual personalities despite being similar in many ways.
“Tyler and Colton love being big brothers – they are obsessed with them.
“We have memorial trees for Lucas, Ryan, Elijah and Willa Grace, and we will keep their memories alive.
“Although it is difficult to accept that I lost four babies, I am grateful to have six beautiful boys.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
