Jenny Marr would have been understandably concerned when her doctor wore a peculiar expression during her first ultrasound…
Little did she know, Dr. Lauren Murray was about to change her and her partner’s life forever.
Anyone who has visited a sonographer knows how nerve-wracking and exciting it can be. Seeing that little life on the black screen is incredibly emotional. For Jenny Marr and her partner Chris, it was all that and more.
The couple from Grapevine, Texas, had been trying for a baby for several months. When Jenny finally got pregnant, they received the shock of their lives during a routine ultrasound.
Jenny explained to TODAY: “I thought there was no heartbeat. But the doctor said, ‘No, there is a heartbeat. In fact, there are three.’ We were absolutely floored.”
Shocked, the surprises didn’t end there. A week later, on November 19, 2019, they visited a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and got the same odd glance from the technician performing the ultrasound.
“The tech gave me a funny look. We got worried again,” Chris told TODAY. “Then she said, ‘I’m not supposed to say this, but you’ve got four babies.’”
In just seven days, they went from expecting one baby to four.
Chris joked, “I’m not coming back because there’ll be five babies next time. But jumping from three to four was easier to swallow. And they were all healthy.”
Dr. Lauren Murray estimated that identical, spontaneous quadruplet births occur in 1 in 11 million or 1 in 15 million births – extremely rare. “It’s unbelievable. It’ll never happen again in my career,” Murray said. “What a miracle.”
Despite the risk of one baby pulling nutrients from the others, this quartet shared incredibly well, with no size discrepancies.
At 28.5 weeks, on March 15, Jenny went into labor. She was aiming for 33 weeks but had to deliver early. Despite the beginning of the coronavirus chaos, her C-section went well.
Baby Harrison came first, weighing 2 pounds 6 ounces. Hardy followed at 2 pounds 10 ounces, then Henry at 2 pounds 6.7 ounces, and finally Hudson at 1 pound 15 ounces. “They were all born in three minutes. It’s incredible,” Jenny said. “We called them our baby birds because they looked like baby birds.”
Three of the four stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for 10 weeks. By early May, they were home, and Jenny and Chris couldn’t be happier.
A year later, Jenny updated DFW Child on how the quadruplets were doing. “They’re all crawling, and two are close to walking. They’re into everything and already such little boys! Eating is just shoveling food into their faces. They’re funny and sweet.”
“We hope our story and our boys bring as much joy to everyone as they bring to us,” Jenny said.
The quadruplets are now three years old and thriving. Jenny has an Instagram account with 140,000 followers, sharing glimpses of their busy life.
Jenny, previously a dental assistant, often fields questions about her family and birth experience. She conceived the boys without any medical or medication assistance.
People ask how she copes with four lively boys. “I don’t know anything different, and I don’t really have another option! My family had preschools, and I was around kids a lot. It’s second nature to take care of children.”
“It is what it is. You’ve got to roll with the punches. I asked my doctor about parenting classes, and she said, ‘No, you’ll learn in the NICU. Nobody’s going to teach you how to do this.’”
People also wonder how they tell the boys apart. “As their parents, we just know. We see four different faces, and their personalities and voices are distinct. For others: Harrison is the biggest with the best hair. Hardy has a chipped tooth and is slender. Henry has a chubby face with bouncy hair. Hudson has the smallest head and a freckle on his forehead.”
Four precious little babies entered the world on March 15. Jenny and Chris, I’m delighted for you both. The memories you’ll create as a family and the love in your household will be incredible.