Two mothers from Wisconsin were overjoyed when they found out they were pregnant, but they hadn’t decided how big they wanted their family to be. That changed when an ultrasound revealed they were expecting quadruplets.
On July 28, Gabby Gidley, just short of 29 weeks pregnant, delivered four babies — daughters Rozelia, Lillette, and Icelynn, and son Miller — by C-section in only three minutes, according to a statement from Essentia Health.
“I was just praying the babies would be okay,” said Gabby, who shares the children with her wife, Bobbijean Gidley.
The quadruplets were born prematurely and are meeting important health goals in the NICU, where they’ll likely stay until late September or early October.
“How am I going to keep four tiny humans alive?” Gabby joked.
Gabby and Bobbijean, both teachers, met in college while playing softball. They married two years ago and began their journey to parenthood through intrauterine insemination.
At one of their first ultrasounds, Gabby noticed two sacs and asked the technician if they were having twins. Instead, they learned there were four babies — a surprise that took time to process.
Bobbijean told WDIO that learning about the quadruplets early helped them prepare, from buying the right car to figuring out how to fit four cribs in one room. “You make plans for one baby, but when you find out it’s four, you have to start over,” she said.
Gabby’s pregnancy went smoothly with regular checkups. But during a visit to Bobbijean’s parents in Grand Rapids, her water broke. They rushed to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, Minnesota, where the team was ready for the rare delivery — the hospital’s first quadruplet birth in 26 years.
The NICU staff had practiced ahead of time for different possibilities, including if all four babies needed ventilators. “We plan for the worst but hope for the best,” said Micah Alton, the NICU nurse manager.
As the babies grow stronger, Gabby and Bobbijean are preparing for life at home. Gabby set up a GoFundMe to help cover costs while she takes a year off work to care for the quadruplets. Bobbijean will continue teaching.
“We’re counting down the days until we can all be together at home,” Gabby said.
