The world’s most premature surviving quadruplets have smashed another milestone after making history the moment they were born – by celebrating their first birthday.
Known as the “Quads of Aubs” – Lainey, Kali, Lennon and Koen Bryant – were born a staggering 115 days early.
They enjoyed smash cakes as their proud parents watched on.
But the cheerful party scene couldn’t have been further from the terrifying hospital drama that surrounded their birth after mum Becca Bryant’s waters broke at just 23 weeks.
Her due date was 23 September, but the babies arrived on 31 May.
The tiny babies were delivered the next day by emergency C-section, breaking a record from 1997 for becoming the world’s most premature surviving quadruplets, previously held by a family in Australia.
Though they each weighed just over a pound at birth, the quads are now happy, cheeky and enjoying life at home with their siblings.
“They’re great babies, they’re silly, and they’re funny, and they like to play and do stuff,” Becca said.
“Thinking about, like, going to the ultrasound and there’s four babies, and then they’re high risk, and then we get admitted to OB, and then my water breaks, and then we have these babies way too early, all those terrifying thoughts…
“To see them go through all the stuff and struggle so hard and try to fight so hard… but now they’re home, and now we get to do their first birthday and think about outfits, smash cakes, and fun just one-year-old stuff.”
Reflecting on their emotional NICU journey, Becca said: “I mean it was exciting and terrifying, and all we could think about all day was: We need four of this, and four of this, and four of that!
She added, “Every appointment, I was excited to see the babies, but I was also scared that something was going to be wrong with somebody.
“Of course, with any pregnancy, you want to get as far as you can.“
Becca, from Auburn, Alabama, was lying in bed when her water broke and said things moved “really, really fast” after that point, reports Need To Know.
The babies were all born within five minutes of each other, and whisked into intensive care teams of nearly 30 doctors and nurses who were standing by for their arrival.
Dr Travers, the neonatologist on call that night, said: “When babies are born extremely premature, there are a lot of complications that can potentially arise.
“Their lungs are going to be very immature and very stiff, so all the Bryant quads ended up being intubated and put on a ventilator, and they had 24/7 around-the-clock care.
“At one point, each of them ended up being quite unwell and needing really intensive care.
“It must’ve been a really difficult time for the parents to watch them be so sick.”
Kali developed a spontaneous hole in her intestines and needed surgery, but bounced back after just three weeks.
Lainey came down with a serious viral infection and swelled up like “a completely different baby”, but miraculously recovered after an experimental adult medicine was tried.
Lennon and Koen had the toughest time, according to doctors.
Lennon was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and needed extra ventilator support, while Koen’s condition left Becca too afraid to sleep.
She said, “It definitely was really hard having four babies in the NICU.
“Having so many moments of being so sick, and so close to losing them.
“But I’ve always said – we’re bringing four in here, and we’re leaving with four.
“Everybody has to come home.”
Slowly but surely, the miracle babies began getting stronger, and one by one, they started going home.
Lennon, the final baby to return, needed surgery to insert a feeding tube and undergo laser eye treatment – but joined his siblings in time for Christmas.
Dr Sanusi, who led the delivery, added: “That’s a really rare outcome at that gestational age, for all four of them to be doing really exceptionally well.
“That was really very personally and professionally fulfilling for me.”
Now, the Bryants are settling into life as a family of nine by trying to make things feel as “normal” as possible with four one-year-olds in the house.
