A couple trying for a final baby to complete their family ended up with quadruplets - and have to paint their toenails to tell them apart. Gaby Hagler, 40, and husband, Patrick, 50, a marriage and family therapist, were ecstatic after finding out they were pregnant in December 2021.
The couple have a two-year-old son Sammy together, and they each have a child from a previous relationship. But they were shocked when the sonographer revealed they were expecting naturally conceived quadruplets at their 12-week scan in January 2022 - at one in a million odds.
Daunted by the prospect of becoming a family-of-nine, they knew they would have to make big adjustments in their life. Gaby gave birth at 34 weeks to Adam, 4 lbs 8oz, Bennett, 4 Lbs 7oz, Coby, 4lbs and Dane, 4lbs 1oz, via a planned c-section on June 22 this year.
Now the family get through 47 nappies, 32 bottles, a packet and a half of wipes, and three loads of baby laundry every day. Bennett and Coby are so similar in their looks that Gaby and Patrick have to paint their toenails a different colour to tell them apart.
Despite the adjustment, Gaby and Patrick are overjoyed with their new arrivals. Gaby, a real estate broker, said: “I get the quads confused sometimes because Bennett and Coby look pretty identical - I have to paint one of their toenails so I can tell them apart.
“Bennett has a green toenail and Coby has a white toenail. We have colours for Adam and Dane too but as they've got older, they are easier to tell them apart. It was utter shock when we found out it was quadruplets.
“We’d already bought the big car ready for our family-of-six so we were very shocked when we realised quadruplets would make us a family-of-nine. We have a really unique opportunity to raise these four boys at the same time."
Patrick said: “We thought it would be great to have a fourth and final child and we had no idea it was quadruplets until the sonographer just started counting. I thought she was counting different angles at first but then it clicked.
“It was a lot to wrap our heads around. With four babies it's been a complete restructuring of everything.
"We're trying to fit our existing life in with these new babies, but it's been an honour and a joy so far."
After finding out the surprising news, Gaby had to have her cervix sewn shut to prevent miscarriage with a surgery called cervical cerclage. The pair discovered they were expecting all boy quadruplets and Gaby was monitored carefully for the remainder of her pregnancy, due to the high risk.
Gaby was determined to make it to 34 weeks, to give her baby boys the best chance of growing to 4lbs and kept track of how many calories she needed to get them there. “I was so tired I would have to stop while driving just down the road,” she said.
"I was determined to get the babies to 4lbs, so I made sure I was having enough calories to achieve that. By the end I could feel the fibres being ripped apart in my stomach, but I knew I just wanted to get to 34 weeks.”
Patrick added: "It was amazing that she made it. That last month was a lot and I'm very proud and impressed by Gaby that she got to 34 weeks."
Gaby went down for the c-section first thing on June 22 and the quadruplets were born at 6.30am, before being whisked away to be checked over. “I walked in as they started delivering the babies,” Patrick said.
“It was such an operation to get them out safely. Each baby had a whole team and there were about 30 people in the room.
"They all looked so healthy and gorgeous."
All four boys - Adam, Bennett, Coby and Dane - were whisked away to the neonatal unit to be checked over. Adam and Dane stayed in for just two weeks before they were ready to head home, while Coby and Bennett stayed a further two weeks while they built their strength.
A friend of the couple set up a GoFundMe page to help them raise money for a van to fit their newly expanded family. "We were so grateful to people who donated, and we've now been able to buy the van," Gaby said.
"It has been a big adjustment, we're now using our retirement money."
The family are also having to go through 47 nappies a day, a packet and a half of wipes, 32 bottles and three loads of laundry every 24 hours. "It been challenging but it's been so nice to have them all home so we could cuddle with them all," Gaby said.
"We have a new feeding strategy each day to try and work out the best way to do it. They're personalities are all coming out now - Adam is the leader, Coby is very cheery, Bennett is very chilled, and Dane is our needy and outspoken one."
The family is all settling in well, and the quadruplets are going from strength to strength. It's the most challenging but the most beautiful thing," Gaby said.
