Previously...

"Here we go," said the doctor, as she turned on the ultrasound.

As the image came up, Lyla gasped. Jason, who couldn't see the screen from where he was, immediately panicked. "Is something wrong?"

"Come here, Jason," said Lyla. Jason wheeled over to where he could see the screen. He immediately gasped as well. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Neither could Lyla. But he knew that's what it was.

"You mean...?" asked Jason.

"Yes," said the doctor. "There's four."

***
"Four?" said Jason and Lyla in shock.

"Yes, there are four," said the doctor.

Jason and Lyla were both stunned. But the proof was seeing the four little bubbles. Although it was still too early to be able to actually see the babies, the four bubbles that indicated a gestational sac were visible.

"Four," said Jason, white as a ghost. If he had been able to stand, he probably would have passed out right there.

"Okay," said the doctor, "we need to talk about the next step."

"What do you mean?" asked Lyla.

"Well, a quadruplet pregnancy is very high-risk. You need to decide if you want to continue with quads."

"Why wouldn't we?" said Jason. "If this is what we were given, this is what we're going to go with." Lyla nodded in agreement.

"So you won't consider reduction at all?"

"No," Jason and Lyla at the same time. How could they even consider doing that? These were their babies. They were not disposable. How could anyone see them as being disposable just because there were four of them?

Despite the dire warnings about the risks, Jason and Lyla would hear none of it. They were decided in which path they would take. They were also told that there was a chance some of the babies just wouldn't make it due to the weeding out process and survival of the fittest. Another sonogram would be done in about a week and a half, when heartbeats would be visible, to make a better assessment.

November 23, 2016

"Dad," said Noah, "where are Mommy and Maddie?"

"They're at the store, picking up a few things for tomorrow," said Jason. Thanksgiving was the next day. It had been six days since they had found out that there were four babies, and although Maddie and Noah knew, not knowing what the outcome was going to be yet, Jason and Lyla decided to keep it on the down low for now.

"What are you doing?" asked Noah.

"Just figuring out some numbers for work for Grandpa," said Jason. Lyla's father had hired Jason several years ago to work at his dealership. This had helped Jason and Lyla with financial stability over the years, and Jason hoped that someday he and Lyla's brother would take over.

"You've been working an awful lot," said Noah. "You need a cookie break."

"Noah, I'm too old for a cookie break," said Jason. "Besides, I ate all the Chips Ahoy around midnight last night, when I had to work late."

"I thought I heard some tires squeaking," said Noah. "Why didn't you wake me and Maddie?"

"Sorry, buddy," said Jason. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Well, if we can't have a cookie break, let's have a Chutes and Ladders break instead," said Noah, holding up the game.

"Sure thing, pal," said Jason. As they started the game, Noah asked, "Daddy?"

"What is it?" asked Jason.

"Is Mommy really going to have four babies?"

"Possibly. We don't know how strong they all are yet."

"Does this mean me and Maddie won't get attention anymore?"

"Of course not, Noah," said Jason. "Why would you think that?"

"I've just always been worried about it," said Noah. "After all, I've never been a big brother before. I don't know what it's going to be like."

"You're pretty lucky to have the chance to be a big brother," said Jason. "I never had a brother or sister, big or little, growing up."

Noah then spun the spinner and took his turn.

"Are you and Maddie excited about having four new brothers and sisters?"

"I guess," said Noah, as he moved his game piece. "It'll be a lot different."

"Yes, it will. Most people don't get four brothers and sisters all at once."

"What will they be?" asked Noah.

"We don't know yet," Jason told him, as he took his turn. "They could be all boys, all girls, or two of each, or three of one and one of the other."

"You know what I just realized?" asked Noah.

"What, champ?"

"There are four of us in the family already," said Noah. "So, with four babies, there will always be a baby for someone to hold."

"You're right," said Jason. Eight-year-olds always looked on the bright side of everything.

"And I'll be as good a big brother as Maddie has been a big sister to me," Noah added. "I'll give bottles to the babies and read them stories and protect them from monsters and bad guys."

"I'm sure you will," said Jason.

"Maddie said she'll hold them a lot and teach them all about unicorns and My Little Pony," Noah continued. He was getting far ahead in the game, but soon got a long chute and had to go back almost to the beginning.

"Oh, man!" said Noah.

"Luck of the spin," said Jason. "Will you teach the babies how to play Chutes and Ladders, too, when they get older?"

"Of course," said Noah.

***
Four days after Thanksgiving, Lyla had a second sonogram. This sonogram showed four distinct heartbeats, one in each sac. And they all seemed very strong. But they weren't out of the danger zone yet.

A sonogram at eight weeks showed that all four were still very strong and growing. Jason and Lyla were starting to get more hopeful about the prospects for the babies.

Three days before Christmas, once Lyla had hit ten weeks, a follow-up sonogram showed that all four were still growing and had very strong heartbeats. It was clear by that point that none of these four were going anywhere.

Everyone was shocked when Jason and Lyla announced that there were four. Although their families knew Lyla was pregnant, they hadn't yet announced how many, not wanting to do that until it was more clear that they were all going to make it.

At the end of January 2017, once Lyla was fourteen weeks, the pregnancy became public knowledge. As each appointment concluded, and all four were still looking strong, Jason had finally said, "They're going to make it. They're all going to make it." And they had a lot of community support once the fact that they were having four became public knowledge. They received a lot of donations from people to help them get ready for the babies.

March 2, 2017

"Okay," said the doctor, "let's see how the babies are all doing." Lyla was now twenty weeks-halfway there. She was having an anatomy scan to make sure all the babies were growing well. And if the babies cooperated, they would be able to see what sexes they were.

"I'm definitely starting to feel them move more," said Lyla. "They're getting stronger."

"Good," said the doctor. "Here's Baby 'A'."

"The baby on the bottom?" asked Lyla.

"Yes." After assessing the first baby to ensure that the growth was going well, Lyla was asked, "Do you want to know the sex?"

"Yes," she and Jason both said.

"Baby 'A' is a boy. Now let's go to Baby 'B'."

Baby "B" proved to also be growing well and was another boy. Baby "C" was growing wonderfully as well and was a girl. Although Baby "D" was also growing well, they could not tell what sex it was.

"So," said Jason, "we have two boys, one girl, and a mystery baby."

"I guess we'll find out at the birth," said Lyla.

***
At the end of March, Lyla hit a big milestone. She had reached twenty-four weeks, and the babies were now considered viable. If born now, they would have a reasonable chance of survival.

"I'm so relieved we got this far," said Jason.

"Every week now is critical," Lyla reminded him. "The doctor told us that every extra day they get in the womb means three fewer days in the NICU."

After reaching viability, they took everything one week at a time. Lyla made it to twenty-five weeks, and then twenty-six. However, the day before Easter, Lyla started having some contractions. She didn't know they were contractions at first, as she had never felt one before in her life, since Maddie and Noah had both been pre-labor C-sections. But she decided to err on the side of caution and get checked out. Thankfully, the medication stopped the contractions, which meant the babies were still staying put for now.

Lyla, however, was placed on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy. On the plus side, it meant Maddie and Noah would get to spend a lot of time with their grandparents for a few weeks.

Soon, twenty-six weeks became twenty-seven, which became twenty-eight. Getting to twenty-eight weeks was another big milestone, as this meant they were past the riskiest phase. This meant if the babies were born now, they would have an excellent chance of survival. And then twenty-eight weeks became twenty-nine.

It was now the beginning of May. The babies were due on July 20, but they knew that they wouldn't make it that long. However, Lyla was hoping to stay pregnant for as long as she possibly could. Every week mattered. That was why she and Jason were just taking it one week at a time.

Twenty-nine weeks became thirty. And the babies were still cooking. The doctor told Lyla that getting past the twenty-eight to thirty-week mark was critical as well, and the babies would likely fare very well if they needed to be born now.

Thirty weeks became thirty-one. Maddie and Noah finished up fourth and third grade, respectively. And thirty-one weeks became thirty-two.

May 27, 2017

"Okay," said the doctor, "because your blood pressure is starting to rise a little bit, so we should probably keep you in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy."

"No problem," said Lyla. She knew it wouldn't be long. She was huge, and didn't know how much longer she could hold up.

When Jason came by that night to see her, the doctor came in and said, "We've decided that we're going to deliver the babies on Monday. Since your blood pressure is creeping up, and you've gotten to thirty-two weeks, which is excellent for quads, it wouldn't make sense to wait any longer."

Lyla joked, "Any way you could wait six more days until June 4th, since our daughter's birthday is August 4th and our son is July 4th?"

The doctor smiled and said, "Nope. Monday's the day. May 29th."

Two days later

"Are you ready to go to the hospital?" Jason asked Maddie and Noah.

"Yes!" said Maddie. "The babies are being born today!"

"I can't wait to see them," added Noah.

"Remember what I told you, though," said Jason. "They won't be coming home right away. Because they weren't supposed to be born for almost two more months, they're going to need special doctors to take care of them for a little bit."

"Just like I did," said Maddie. Maddie had been a preemie as well.

"That's right," said Jason. "Just like you did."

Once they all arrived at the hospital, the doctors started getting Lyla ready. Both Jason and Lyla's parents also came, and Jason said a prayer for everything to go well.

When Maddie had been premature several years ago, Jason and Lyla had been petrified. They were so young, and unprepared for a premature birth and NICU stay. But this time, they weren't petrified. They had been through the NICU experience before and knew what to expect.

"Can you believe we're really going to have six kids?" Lyla asked Jason, as the doctors got ready.

"I know," said Jason. "Six for six!"

"Six for six!" Lyla repeated.

Just then the doctor came in. "The room is ready," she called. "Let's go have some babies."

"Okay," said Lyla. "And we'll get to find out what the mystery baby is!"

"Yeah!" said Jason, as they started wheeling Lyla out to the operating room.

"Good luck, Mommy," said Maddie and Noah.

"You'll get to see the babies after they're born," Jason told them as he followed Lyla, getting ready to wait to be called in.