Mom of quadruplets Ashley Crandell remembers exactly what she was feeling when she snapped her final bump photo.
“It was bittersweet because I really loved being pregnant. I knew I was going to miss feeling them move around — it was like a party all the time,” Crandell, 37.
“But at the point, my entire body hurt, especially my back and feet. I could barely walk up the stairs in our house. Everything was swollen.”
The picture was taken just hours before Crandell delivered her four babies after carrying them for 31 weeks, or roughly seven months. Pregnancy usually lasts about 40 weeks, but nearly all higher-order multiples are premature, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Wesley, Emma, Leah and Nora were born via cesarean section on Feb. 11 at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The babies spent 70 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), learning how to eat and breathe on their own.
And growing up ….
