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Joy Times Four

One Mom's Story of Delivering Quadruplets

By Teri Brown

In fact, Christina was surprised when she went into preterm labor at 29 weeks, even though this is the average birth week for quadruplets. "I was so sure that I would go longer because of the luck I had had with the pregnancy," she says. "It was so subtle that I didn't even know that I was going into labor. In fact, I'm quite sure that if another mom of multiples hadn't been visiting me and realized that I was going into labor, I would not have made it to the hospital!"

Christina thought she was experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions until her friend began counting the contractions. After 10 in an hour, they decided to go to the hospital. Christina's greatest fear was that the babies were coming too early, and Patrick wasn't there. He was stationed two and a half hours away at a Ft. Riley, Kan., military base. After a panicked trip home, Patrick arrived at the hospital – and all contractions stopped. Christina, however, was advised to stay at the hospital on bed rest.

"I started crying," Christina says. "I just didn't know which was worse, being locked up in the house, depending on an ambulance, or being locked up in one room for what could possibly be weeks!"

To understand Christina's frustration you have to understand what her life was like before quads. At age 15, she got her first job and began working full time at 16. She worked full time through high school and college while taking a full load of classes. In 1998, she graduated from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville with a bachelor's degree in engineering. After graduating, she threw herself into her job, working long hours and enjoying every minute of it. To be told she was going to have to be on bed rest for what could be weeks was difficult.

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• To start your very own multiples diary click here!
• The Bed Rest Blues: Moms Share Their Tips on How to Survive
• Ahead of Schedule: What to Expect When Your Multiples Are Premature
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