Sometimes, wishes come true more abundantly than you ever could have imagined.
Just like many couples who already have sons, Joshua and Megan Hulen also wanted to have a daughter. when they made the decision to try “one last time,” Megan became pregnant rather quickly. And they were thrilled to find out if, at last, they were having a daughter.
The family already had two boys, a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old, before becoming pregnant. They made the desperate decision to give it another shot in the hopes of getting a girl. The couple underwent reproductive testing, but the results revealed certain issues, forcing them to stop further treatments.
But good thing they did because they could not believe that they finally got pregnant naturally.
Megan has polycystic ovarian syndrome, a hormonal condition that can cause “excess amounts of androgen (androgen) or irregular or protracted menstrual cycles,” according to the Mayo Clinic website. “The ovaries may develop numerous small collections of fluid (follicles) and fail to regularly release eggs.”
“I became pregnant before we even got a chance to begin IUI,” she said.“I started to feel really weird and I thought, surely there’s no way I could be pregnant because I never actually ovulated on my own.”
And when the doctors were able to get more information about her pregnancy, they informed the couple that she is definitely pregnant. But not only with one baby, but five!
Around six weeks, they went in for their ultrasound, where they were told that they could only find one heartbeat and that it was unlikely all five babies would be viable.
“We went back in a week later and saw five heartbeats,” Megan said.
“I was so shocked — the ultrasound technician worried they were hurting me because I was shaking and I said ‘I’m shaking because you’ve told me I’m having five babies,’” she continued.
She was so frightened that she requested that her husband not pick her up after their visit.
They proceeded to his office instead, where “I sat in the corner and sobbed for nearly an hour.”
Megan has encountered challenging pregnancy issues before.
“My younger son Matthew was born with nager syndrome [a rare condition that affects both the facial structures and the extremities, according to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital] and we spent about three months in the NICU with him. It was a really hard time,” she recalled.
She “freaked out” for the majority of that pregnancy, and — “I think I realized that didn’t do me any good. I couldn’t control anything and what was going to be was going to be — I wasted so much time worrying.”
She had to deal with the fact that she would soon give birth to five children, but the COVID-19 epidemic and the lockdowns also made life more difficult for them. As a result, her pregnancy was not without its challenges. “It’s been extremely crazy, something we definitely never expected,” Megan added.
The pair did, however, make a clarification. Megan stated, “They did not come from IVF,” and her husband added, “And they’re not COVID babies,” in an interview with WKRG. “It was before”
Megan feels happy that the pregnancy was discovered before the outbreak of the pandemic. This gave her spouse the chance to accompany her to some of her early appointments. And while facing this difficulty, which will undoubtedly drastically alter their lives, these appointments helped the family get closer.
Megan was admitted to a Fargo hospital at 32 weeks on September 2.
After her doctors detected she had a spike in blood pressure, she was delivered through C-section. But once Megan was in the hospital, everything went according to plan.
“The birth was not what I expected it to be,” she recalled. “I was so shocked because the babies were all born within four minutes of each other. It was boom boom boom and all the babies were out. It actually took a lot longer to get my bleeding sorted and me stitched up than it did to get the babies out,” she continued.
By 2:20 am all five babies were born: Chloe, Adam, Emma, Allison, and Madison.
It’s miraculous but also overwhelming, the proud father remarked.
The likelihood of being pregnant with quintuplets is one in 43 million. This is definitely something big for the family. In addition, they are also the first quintuplet to be ever born in North Dakota!
Having kids is a blessing. And Joshua and Megan, are truly blessed.
No doubt, there’s more of that to come now that they are finally surrounded by the five babies Megan has been nurturing inside.
Watch it here: Youtube/60 minutes Australia
Sources: Awm, Wkrg, Sanelinews