A couple from Phoenix had to go through a lot of ʟᴏss and ᴘᴀɪɴ before realizing their dream of finally becoming parents, but they persevered against all odds and were finally blessed with the birth of quintuplets just before Christmas.
Michael and Margaret Baudinet of Phoenix, Arizona, wanted to be parents more than anything, but they faced many challenges. Margaret ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅ twice, and when she got pregnant again, she didn’t dare entertain the thought because she felt that when hope was awakened in her, she was always bound to be disappointed.
After the ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ ʟᴏssᴇs, the couple decided to undergo ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ, and it wasn’t long before they learned that Margaret was pregnant with not one, but five babies. Although they were very excited, they did not dare to indulge in joy because it was very possible that not all five ꜰᴇᴛᴜsᴇs would survive.
“When I found out, I was sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ, and I don’t think I talked about it for about four weeks,” Michael recalled.
The couple moved to Virginia, where Dr. John Elliott, who specializes in multiple births, took care of them throughout, explaining each step in detail to make the pregnancy as trouble-free as possible.
With the help of her and other staff at St. Joseph’s hospital, the couple felt that everything might finally be okay, but they still tried to limit their joy until the last minute.
“I thought maybe one in five ꜰᴇᴛᴜsᴇs would survive. We really tried to contain our excitement until we finally started to believe that we could finally have a family,” explained Margaret.
The delivery was conducted by a team of 24 doctors and nurses on December 4, 2016. Ava, Clara, Camille, Luke, and Isabelle were the first quintuplets in the hospital’s 121-year history. They were born by ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ at 32 weeks of pregnancy, and although they were still cared for in the ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴜɴɪᴛ for a while, everything turned out as well as possible, and all five babies were healthy.
Patty White, principal of St. Joseph’s, was also delighted with the historic moment, saying, “We call these babies our Christmas miracles.”
The happy family was even visited by Santa Claus at the hospital, who took care of the festive atmosphere, although they felt that they had already received the real gift.
“It’s a huge blessing,” the parents said.
At the same time, the mother encouraged others who, like her, face challenges in starting a family to persevere: “As a person who had to wait, I want you to know that God blesses every single day we spend waiting. And joy will surely come,” she said.
