After Eight Years of Infertility, Mom Thanks God for Quadruplets

State   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Nov 28, 2014   |   5:52PM   |   Pleasant Grove, Utah

After eight years of infertility, Ashley and Tyson Gardner found out they were pregnant with quadruplets. The Gardner’s are from Pleasant Grove, Utah, and an ultrasound showed that their babies were two sets of twin girls.

According to Dr. Alan Penzias, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, the odds of having two sets of twins in one pregnancy are about 1 in 70 million.

ashleygardnerCurrently, Ashley’s twins are 25-weeks fetal age and the young mother is on bed-rest. But Ashley isn’t complaining; instead she’s counting her blessings this holiday season. She wrote in an online article on the Herald Extra more about her pregnancy.

She said, “This year being on hospital bed rest as the holidays approach is no easy task. Every day my body gets more sore and tired. But it doesn’t matter anymore. These four beautiful babies we have been blessed with are all that matters.”

She continued, “This year we won’t be Christmas shopping for the best material things we can find, we won’t be opening a bunch of presents soon to be forgotten about or sifting through Black Friday ads. We will be here, in a hospital room, together as family, praying for the safe arrival of our little ones — hoping for another day or week or more in this bed to better ensure their safety.”

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Ashley and Tyson have a lot to be thankful for because earlier this year doctors found that one of the sets of twins had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. The syndrome causes the blood flow from the shared placenta of the twins to become unbalanced so that one twin does not receiving enough blood and the other receives too much. According to the Daily Herald of Utah Country, the couple flew to Los Angeles to see Dr. Raman H. Chmait, who specializes in correcting the condition. Dr. Chmait is the director of Los Angeles Fetal Therapy within the CHLA-USC Institute for Maternal-Fetal Health.

However, upon arrival doctors found another fatal problem— Ashley’s cervix had opened while on the flight. Thankfully, Dr. Chmait was able to perform a cervical cerclage which sews the cervix shut and fix the blood transfusion problem.

Ashley concluded by thanking God for the safe surgery. She said, “I’m thankful for the tender mercies of our Savior and the small things He does to let us know He is always there. We have never been so scared as we were a few weeks ago while in California getting Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome surgery to save our babies’ lives. We were constantly reminded at every minute that we are not alone, and He is watching over us. Thousands of comments and messages came in from all around the world with prayers for our babies. I’m thankful prayers are heard.”

Now the couple is back in Utah awaiting the arrival of their babies. Doctors have said that Ashley needs to make it to 28-weeks to give her daughters the best chance at survival; but she believes their little girls will make it well past that point.