Katelyn Yates, a 20-year-old nursing assistant from Illinois, visited a hospital on April 1, expecting to get treatment for her sore throat. Instead, she received life-changing news that she was pregnant with quadruplets. Ms Yates shared her incredible story with Today, recounting how her hospital visit started with throat pain that led doctors to recommend an X-ray. As a precautionary measure, doctors also asked Yates to take a pregnancy test before the X-ray, since radiation can be harmful to a fetus. Surprisingly, her pregnancy test came back positive, and her human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels were “off the charts,” indicating multiple fetuses.

Notably, hCG is a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy, detectable by blood tests around 11 days after conception and urine tests about 12-14 days after conception. Typically, hCG levels double every 72 hours, peaking between 8-11 weeks of pregnancy before levelling off.

Ms Yates thought it was an April Fool’s Day joke at first, but reality soon set in. His fiance, Julian Bueker, was overjoyed when he heard the news, which helped calm her nerves. As Yates’ pregnancy advanced, complications arose, leading to a diagnosis of preeclampsia, a condition characterised by high blood pressure after 20 weeks. She endured debilitating symptoms, including difficulty breathing, liver complications and kidney issues. 

At 28 weeks and 4 days, Yates underwent an emergency C-section at HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, delivering quadruplets on October 17. The smallest baby was Elizabeth, who weighed 1 pound 2 ounces; while Max, the largest of the bunch, weighed 2 pounds, 6 ounces.

However, all four babies are doing remarkably well, gaining weight and growing. “They’re doing phenomenal. They are gaining weight and growing. Elizabeth is about six grams away from reaching two pounds,” she told Today. 

The odds of conceiving spontaneous quadruplets are less than one in 500,000, according to the Journal of Family and Reproductive Health. As per the Mayo Clinic, various factors contribute to premature birth. A woman’s previous experiences with pregnancy, such as having had a premature birth or abortion, can increase the risk. Additionally, underlying health issues like uterine abnormalities, high blood pressure, and diabetes can also play a role.