Twice as nice times two

It rarely ever happens: two sets of identical twins in utero simultaneously. Miranda and Josh Crawford were just looking to expand their happy little family of three. In vitro fertilization had worked for this couple, who met while at nursing school, when they conceived their daughter two years before. They decided on another go around.

After a few attempts, the IVF was successful. Two embryos implanted. Then, during a prenatal ultrasound, the doctor delivered the hard to believe news, “I said, ‘There’s quads’,” Dr. Seth Katz recalled. “And she was like, “You’re kidding’. And I said, ‘I don’t kid about this’. Then I showed her the heartbeats. She was just overwhelmed.” She had two sets of identical twins, one set of girls the other of boys.

The occurrence is so rare, that Dr. Katz is sure he’ll never see it again in his practice and acknowledges how extraordinary it is to see it at all. “About twice a year, we’ll see one (embryo) split,” Katz said. “To have both implant and both split is very unusual.” The math is extraordinary. IVF works 60% of the time. Usually only one embryo makes it through the process. A split on the one remaining embryo would be rare. It’s extraordinary and exceptional that two separate embryos would ever split.

Miranda had only a few complications. She developed gestational diabetes which she treated with diet and was eventually on total bed rest. She endured steroid shots to help with the babies’ development and progesterone to help strengthen her cervix. A cesarean was scheduled and five medical teams were put in place – four for the babies and one for the mom.

Now it’s around the clock breastfeeding and diapering. Help from friends and relatives is supporting the family that has grown from three to seven in no time at all.

Source: ABCNews, kansascity.com