Tressa Montalvo and her husband Manuel were completely shocked when, while at the doctor checking up on their twins at week twelve, the MD found a third heartbeat. Then a maternal fetal medicine specialist found a fourth.
They had just been trying for a little brother or sister for their two-and-a-half year-old son, Memphis!
After an uneventful pregnancy with no bedrest, the brood was born at 31 weeks via C-section. Tressa had quadruplets Ace, Blaine, Cash and Dylan, on St. Valentine’s Day. Ace and Blaine shared one placenta, while Cash and Dylan shared another. Ace weighed in at 3lb 10oz, Blaine at 3lb 15oz, Dillon at 3lb 7oz, and Cash, the tiniest, coming in at 2lb 7oz. “I just thought I’d go with the A-B-C-D names to make it easier on the family,” Tressa said in our interview. “We didn’t have any ideas for names when we went in.” How can they be told apart? Ace and Blaine have different ears: one more pointed, the other rounder; Cash and Dylan have a darker skintone than their brothers.
Cash is still in the NICU, but he should be coming home today. “The babies had no major complications,” she said. “A lot of the others are more critical than I am.” Other than their weight being smaller than normal, nothing life-threatening was wrong with these miracle quads.
“I’ll tell you a story. I met a woman at Walmart one day and she looked at me and said, ‘Oh my god, are you having twins?’ And I said, no I’m having four, and she went, ‘Oh wow, I had four last year and only one of them survived.’ But I’ll tell you, throughout my pregnancy, I never thought, what if this. What happens if they have this. I kept a positive attitude the whole time, no negative thoughts.”
Positive thoughts are good, especially because when we asked her about how much help she was getting. None! None other than her husband, and occasionally her family on the weekends. This mama is flying solo. What makes it a little easier? “I don’t wait for them to wake up,” she says of their every-three-hour feeding schedule. “I wake them up one by one, feed them, and put them back. I sleep in the time in between at night, and during the day I play with Memphis.”
In true Twiniversity style, we rallied and got this amazing mom of five some great products to help her out. We’d like to thank these amazing companies for their incredible support!
Fisher-Price:
My Little Snugabunny Cradle ‘n Swing
My Little Snugabunny Bouncer
My Little Snugabunny Deluxe Rock ‘n Play Sleeper
SpaceSaver High Chair (Scatterbug Fashion)
Aquarium Bath Center
Discover ‘n Grow Kick & Play Piano Gym
Discover ‘n Grow Stroller Chimes
Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy
Poppity Pop Musical Dino
Laugh & Learn Apptivity Storybook Reader
FastFinder Deluxe Messenger Bag
SwaddleCinch Blanket
Britax:
Carriers
B-SAFE Car Seats
B-READY Strollers
Kushies:
Two-piece layette sets
MAM:
Pacifiers
Infant oral care products
Twiniversity 