Alabama couple welcome rare quadruplets: 2 sets of identical twins
An Alabama couple who welcomed a rare set of quadruplets in March are hopeful they will get to bring all four of their babies home soon.
Michael and Hannah Carmack found out they’d be expecting quadruplets last Halloween during an ultrasound visit and all they could do was laugh in disbelief.
"All of our emotions hit. Really not knowing what to think and all I could do was put my hands on my head and kind of laugh in disbelief like, is this real?" Michael told FOX TV Stations.
And while they are not 100% sure, as far as Michael and Hannah know, there are no other twins in their family, and especially not quadruplets.
Hannah Carmack with her quadruplets: Evelyn Ann, David Michael, Daniel Joseph and Adeline Grace. (Michael Carmack)
"We asked the doctors if quadruplets would run in our family, and they’re like, ‘Quadruplets don't run in anybody's family," Michael said as he laughed.
Later on, Michael and Hannah found out that the sets of twins were identical: two boys and two girls, which is very rare.
In 2021 alone, only 331 quadruplets were born out of over 3.6 million total births in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At a little over 27 weeks, Hannah was admitted to the hospital and an emergency C-section was performed to ensure all four kids made it out safely.
Evelyn, David, Daniel and Adeline Carmack. (Michael Carmack)
Doctors had told the Carmacks in previous appointments that it is rare for all of the children to survive these types of pregnancies, so being overly cautious was key.
And while they didn’t want to be pessimistic, doctors had to inform the parents of all outcomes, including potentially having to choose which sets of twins to save or potentially losing one of the four in the event everything went wrong.
"We kind of had a grim outlook during the whole pregnancy," Michael said.
Their smallest child, Adeline, was already having issues while in the womb, according to Michael.
"We were having to choose between all or three. Adeline, our smallest baby, really struggled in the womb and had low fluid and had some problems with the flow through her umbilical cord," Michael said.
So regular appointments were scheduled twice a week until the induced labor on March 14 just to ensure little Adeline would be OK.
Fortunately, between 4:16 a.m. and 4:20 a.m., all four kids were delivered safely. Michael and Hannah welcomed Evelyn, David, Daniel and Adeline, respectively.
Hannah with her babies, David, Daniel, Adeline and Evelyn. (Michael Carmack)
"She’s just a rockstar," Michael said of his wife. "She handled it with incredible grace."
Micheal said Hannah was already up and walking around right after the birth and was ready to leave the hospital after just a 2-day stay.
"I mean, immediately after the surgery, she's getting up and wanting to go see the babies and we ended up putting her in a wheelchair and taking her down there. But she's walking from room to room and all the nurses are like, ‘You just had a C-section,’" Michael said.
All four kids are continuing their care at UAB Women and Infants Center in Birmingham but Michael is hopeful that the kids will come home soon thanks to the amazing health care staff.
"We couldn’t ask for better doctors," Michael said. "The whole team, they’re the best of the best."
The Carmacks also have an 8-year-old daughter, Emily, who can’t wait to welcome her new siblings to their new home, which is under renovation to make room for the four additions to the family.
"She’s going to make a great big sister," Michael said of Emily.
Both Michael and Hannah make as much time as they can to see their children in the hospital while also continuing to provide for their eldest daughter.
The Carmacks’ eldest daughter, Emily, 8, and her father, Michael. (Michael Carmack)
Michael works in ministry and Hannah is a vet tech.
The family currently has a GoFundMe account set up to help with expenses and hope their littles ones will have a beautiful new home to grow up in once they are discharged.
"It has really been a lot of pressure. Sometimes it's super discouraging, but God always comes through. But it's just a lot of work, it's a lot of work and you just still need help," Michael said.
But despite the pressure and hardships, Micheal said he and his family are thankful for the outcome and hope if anyone else happens to be experiencing this same situation or any unexpected life events, it’s alright to ask for help.
"God's faithful. He is not going to give you something that you're not going to be able to handle, and that he's not going to equip you to be able to do," Michael said.
"I would always recommend that people just be able to reach out to other people in humility, because sometimes asking for help, it's humbling. Don't let pride get in the way of you being able to talk with somebody because it is hard and it's OK that it's hard," he added.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.