Help Fund a Van for the Smith Quads!

Hello!

On June 16th, 2023, my husband and I welcomed four tiny miracles into the world. Selah, Ezra, Norah, and Abigail were born at 31 weeks and 2 days and each weighed in at between 2 lbs 10 oz and 3 lbs 10 oz. The road to this joyous day was not an easy one, and all odds were stacked against us being able to have one more baby, let alone four. We'd like to share our story in hopes that it provides encouragement to anyone out there who may currently be struggling.

Gabriel and I were married in 2015 and within a month of our wedding, found out we were expecting our first surprise baby. Ariella was born in 2016 and was the light of our lives, so much so that we knew we wanted another and in 2017, we began trying again for a second child. This time, we were unable to get pregnant and after over a year of trying, we sought out the advise of a fertility specialist. After a barrage of tests and procedures, we were told that we were not likely to be able to have a second child at all. Nonetheless, we prayed and decided to allow God to have the final say. After only one month of treatment, we learned we were expecting who would become our twins, Noah and Samara. We were overjoyed again, and quickly settled into our lives as a family of five.

In mid-2021, Gabriel and I were conflicted about whether to try for one more child to complete our family. The twins were smack-dab in the midst of the terrible twos and we were tired and unsure if we wanted to start over again. We took some time to think over this decision and prayed to God to give us an answer about whether to pursue expanding our family one final time. After one incredibly difficult night with the twins, we prayed again to God to give us an answer about a fourth child. That next morning, Gabriel woke up and immediately heard an audible voice say, "Abigail". He came to me and shared that God had confirmed that we would have a fourth baby and had given him the name Abigail for that child, and we began trying once again. Again, we were unable to get pregnant on our own and sought assistance from a fertility specialist. The same group of tests were run and the results came back even more dire then before given that I was now a few years older. We were now being told that the only hope we had of having another child was through IVF with donor eggs. However, we remembered how God had showed up with our twins, and we were determined to allow God to move before giving up. We knew He was capable of so much more then the medical community knew was possible.

After seven rounds of medicated IUIs and numerous injections, procedures, and weekly doctor's visits for over half a year, we were still without our Abigail. We started to worry that maybe we had misunderstood Gabriel's morning message over a year prior, and made one last appointment with our fertility specialist during which we expected to be told we had exhausted our options to have another baby. However, the morning of the appointment, our doctor called me, flabbergasted, and informed me that he had double checked our insurance coverage because he planned to tell us later in the day that we had exhausted the treatments that would be covered by our insurance. Miraculously, our insurance coverage had changed overnight and we were now covered for one additional month of medicated IUI. We were exhausted and running out of hope for this final piece of our family, but this inexplicable change in coverage renewed our belief that God was still with us and would follow through with His promises to us.

In early December 2022, we learned that this last round of treatment had worked and that we were indeed pregnant! We were so excited and in awe that we would now have our last baby, despite all of the medical tests and professionals telling us it would never happen. Unfortunately, I began experiencing severe pain in the left side of my abdomen fairly quickly and, concerned about ectopic pregnancy, I began being followed closely via blood tests and ultrasounds to measure how the pregnancy was progressing. Over the next 3 weeks I had three ultrasounds completed by various medical professionals, and at least twenty blood draws to measure the amount of pregnancy hormones in my blood. The hormone levels were skyrocketing after each test, but none of the ultrasounds showed any evidence of a pregnancy in my uterus. I was told that with the hormone levels being were they were, the pregnancy should be visible on ultrasound by now and therefore this was likely not a viable pregnancy. The news felt like a punch in the gut, and we were devastated yet again, but couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this story. I was offered medical intervention to end the pregnancy, which I declined, and we continued to wait to see what would unfold.

A few days before the New Year, I was at work and was struck suddenly with intense pain in my abdomen, so much so that I couldn't move much and I knew this was now an emergency situation. I drove myself to the hospital and after hours of waiting in the ER, saw a doctor who completed another ultrasound and again, could not see any evidence of a viable pregnancy in the uterus. An OB consult was requested and another ultrasound completed by the OB revealed no viable pregnancy, but instead a large amount of what looked like blood in my abdominal cavity. I was told that I likely had experienced an ectopic pregnancy which had ruptured my left fallopian tube, and that emergency surgery was required to stop the bleeding or I could die. I agreed to the surgery but declined when the surgeon offered to "clean out" my uterus or when the anesthesiologist wanted to administer a new type of anesthesia that would harm any viable pregnancy that remained. I couldn't explain why I declined these options, I just had a feeling I couldn't shake that I had to protect any possible viable pregnancy. The OB and anesthesiologist thought I was crazy and kept telling me there was no viable pregnancy to worry about, but the feeling remained. I had the surgery that night, and subsequent lab tests confirmed that the tissue removed had been an ectopic pregnancy. Lab work immediately following the surgery showed that my pregnancy hormones were now declining.

Over the week that followed, I had several additional blood draws to check that the levels of pregnancy hormones in my blood were reducing as expected. They weren't. Instead, the levels reduced overnight after the surgery and then began climbing again. My surgeon called me and expressed concern that I may have had a second ectopic pregnancy on the other side or that the ectopic pregnancy that had burst the left tube had implanted on another organ within my abdomen and continued to grow. Both conditions, if left untreated, could be fatal for me. I was booked for a follow up ultrasound a week after the surgery to see what was going on. It was at that ultrasound that we finally found our four babies, who had been hidden from us all this time and who had now survived the trauma of an ectopic pregnancy, internal bleeding, general anesthesia, and emergency surgery.

The rest of the pregnancy was anything but easy. I was encouraged to reduce or terminate the pregnancy repeatedly by well-meaning doctors who were concerned about the higher risks associated with a quadruplet pregnancy. I developed gestational diabetes early on that required six daily insulin injections and adherence to a rigid low carb diet. I felt unbelievably sick for months and then became so large that I was unable to walk ten feet without significant pelvic and back pain. There were so many additional high risk tests, specialists, and medical visits, but through it all we clung to our belief that because God had brought us this miracle, He would bring us through the current hardships. The babies were born at just past seven months gestation and we were thrilled to finally meet our Abigail and three bonus babies! The quads thrived in the NICU as they learned to grow, breathe on their own, regulate their body temperatures, and feed. After 6 weeks in the NICU, we were able to bring our babies home and our family was finally complete.

With the babies being home, there have been a new set of challenges presented to our family. We no longer have a vehicle that can hold our entire family, as both our minivan and SUV are too small to accommodate 7 children in car seats. As a result we are unable to go anywhere as a family without caravanning in two separate vehicles. Additionally, the babies' premature birth and NICU time resulted in the need for an extended maternity leave, and we have been forced to drain our savings and utilize credit cards to cover our basic living expenses. The babies require additional developmental services and are highly vulnerable to severe disease from viruses, which makes it difficult to place them in childcare until we get through the cold/flu season and they are closer to 1 year old. We cannot return full time to work and better our financial situation until this time. Given all of the above, we have come to realize that we need help.

We truly believe that God brought us through the fire to deliver our four healthy babies. We know that He will continue to carry us through the difficult seasons as we love on and care for these babies so that they can thrive. But, we need the help of the community, of our "village" as well. If you feel led, please feel free to donate and become a part of our village. All funds received will be put towards the purchase of a Ford Transit van to accommodate our entire family, as well as towards the cost of our families' basic necessities during the time I am unable to work.

We hope our story has brought a bit of hope and encouragement to your life. Thank you for reading and God bless!

Sincerely,

Callie Smith