When Ashley and Andy Adams, both 23 years old, of Colorado, found out they are having quadruplets, they were shocked and elated, but their happiness was soon marred by a heart-breaking diagnosis: the young mother had cancer.
About 21 weeks into her pregnancy, doctors at University of Colorado Hospital told Adams that the cancer was in her thyroid gland, and it had spread to her lymph nodes.
‘I just remember calling my buddy, Joe, and crying because I was going to lose my wife,’ Andy Adams recalled
In most cases involving cancer, doctors immediately recommend surgery to remove the tumor, but in Adams’ case, there were concerns that the seven-hour procedure would jeopardize the lives of her unborn babies.
On August 26, at the thirty-week mark, Adams went into labor and gave birth to a son, Wyatt, and his three sisters: Rylie, Braelynn and Samantha.
Having been born about two months prematurely, the newborns were sent down to the intensive care unit, where they are expected to remain until Thanksgiving.
For the past two months, their parents, who both serve in the military, have been shuttling back and forth between their home on Buckley Air Force base and the hospital.
Ashley Adams explained on her Facebook page that she and her husband, who have older children as well, had conceived the quadruplets after a two-year battle with infertility.
The 23-year-old was prescribed a pill called clomid to induce ovulation which is known to increase the chance of having multiple fertilized eggs.
A few weeks later, Adams went in for an ultrasound, which showed that she is pregnant with four babies.
Four weeks after delivering the kids, the young mother went into surgery, which reportedly successful. She and her husband have decided to delay chemotherapy and radiation treatment so that Ashley Adams could spend more time breastfeeding her brood.
Ashley Adams believes that what happened to their family was a twofold miracle: her being focused on saving the lives of her unborn children had inadvertently saved her own life.
‘If we didn’t get pregnant with quads we would have never come to the hospital,’ Ashley said. ‘I wouldn’t have had the doctor I had. I never would have found the cancer.’
‘Its amazing how much they have changed since they were born. They are looking like a full term baby rather than preemies! Chubby cheeks, double chins, dimples on their chunky hands, i love it!!!’
Adams also offered an update on her health, saying that she is ‘healing well’ but still has only little movement in her neck. She is expected to begin physical therapy soon.
