Now toddlers, premature quadruplets get into the Christmas spirit
Devin and Katlyn Edwards are preparing to celebrate a memorable Christmas with their family. They are the parents of quadruplets born four months early by C-section at Duke Hospital in April 2017.
Christian, Elsie, Colton and Marshall each weighed just over a pound at birth.
“They were so little when they were born and so sick and fragile,” Katlyn Edwards said.
The quadruplets and their parents still faced 20 weeks of special care before they were stable enough to go home to Roxboro.
Since then, the family has maintained a regular schedule of medical checkups as well as speech and occupational therapy twice a week. Back at home, the couple enjoyed the assistance of their parents and church family in meeting the care needs of the infants.
Now that the quadruplets are 2 1/2 years old, their parents noticed they're are getting caught up in the excitement of a Christmas celebration.
“They notice the lights. They notice the tree. They notice the shows, the presents,” Katlyn Edwards said.
The biggest change they’ve noticed at this stage in their children’s development is the pace.
“The four are completely mobile,” Katlyn Edwards said. “And that means they are into everything.”
Devin Edwards has a couple of door-stopper sticks to add security to locked doors. A few of the kids have learned how to use them even when their dad has stepped outside for a moment.
“He called me and said, ‘They locked me out of the house,'" Katlyn Edwards said.
She said Elsie is the only one of the four to be on schedule with her speech and motor skills. Marshall is close to the expected norms. Colton and Christian are facing their last few weeks of physical therapy.
Devin and Katlyn Edwards say people often ask, how hard is it to keep up with quadruplets?
“It’s just like breathing,” Devin Edwards said. “We don’t know any better anymore.”
The Edwards maintain close ties with Duke pediatric doctors and nurses with occasional visits. They planned to participate in the Duke Children’s Hospital Radiothon and share their story with WRAL-FM’s Mix 101.5 hosts and their audience.
A hospital visit always reminds the Edwards of the fact that many families don’t have the same happy ending as they enjoyed.
“My heart breaks,” said Kaitlyn Edwards. I could not imagine not bringing my baby home. But then it just makes us be more thankful that God let us see a true miracle. And we’re just thankful that we got to be a part of it.”
