4 on the 4th: MN couple welcome quadruplets on Independence Day
A Minnesota couple who tried for a decade to have a child – suffering multiple miscarriages along the way – finally got what they wanted and then some, as they welcomed four baby girls on the Fourth of July.
Tony and Allyson Ponto had been expecting to meet their children for the first time towards late July, with Allyson scheduled for a C-section, but their new family members just couldn't wait.
Allyson, who has been sharing her experiences with pregnancy, infertility and in vitro fertilization through her 4 Peas in a Ponto blog on Facebook, gave birth to the quadruplets – including identical twins – on Independence Day.
In an update against a backdrop of the stars and stripes, the Pontos revealed the names of their new additions: Olivia Susan, Anna Louise, Morgan Price and Carolyn Grace.
https://www.facebook.com/4peasinaponto/photos/a.692155077612093.1073741828.689963631164571/796414110519522/?type=3&theater
A YouCaring page set up to help them with the costs associated with having four newborns explains the struggle the couple has had reaching this point.
It says the couple had been trying for some 11 years to have kids, experiencing four devastating miscarriages during that time.
Success finally came after in vitro treatment, with the couple telling KBJR 6 about the first time they realized it had worked.
https://www.facebook.com/4peasinaponto/photos/a.692155077612093.1073741828.689963631164571/793062887521311/?type=3&theater
"All of a sudden I see two bloop bloops on the ultrasound and I'm like 'oh my gosh there's two in there? Holy buckets!'" Allyson told KBJR 6. "And then bloop there's another one there's three and I'm like 'There's three?' Like I'm looking at the tech like 'What?' And she's like yeah I'm sorry but there's four."
As KARE 11 notes, quadruplets are extremely rare, with only 228 quadruplets born out of around 4 million births in the U.S. last year.
“I am excited to finally be a mom. It’s going to be work, there is four, but I’m excited to finally be a mom," Allyson told KARE 11.
