'I HAD QUADS.......NATURALLY!'

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EXCLUSIVE: By Jenny Bray 

MUM Shabnum Sadiq has given birth to quads after being told she had little hope of pregnancy.

Shabnum, 25, beat staggering odds of 729,000-1 to have naturally conceived quadruplets, non-identical sons Haider and Zayan and identical daughters Zareen and Maheen.

The foursome, who are now six weeks old, are all healthy and have just arrived home.

Quadruplets, particularly ones conceived without the aid of fertility treatment, are extremely rare. And their arrival is even more incredible given that less than a year ago, doctors diagnosed Shabnum with an ovary condition, meaning her chances of giving birth were unlikely.

                                               MIRACLES

Shabnum, who has been married to husband Khizran, 27, a garage proprietor, since she was 18, said: “They truly are our four little miracles. I’d given up hope of ever having another child. So to now find myself a mum to quads is beyond belief. I still can’t take in I‘ve had them!”

The quads were born by Caesarean section on June 26 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, in Reading. The smallest, a boy, named Haider, came first and weighed 2lbs 15ozs. The second, also a boy, called Zayan, weighed 3lbs 9ozs. The third, a girl, Maheen, weighed 3lbs 3ozs. Finally, came another girl, Zareen, at 3lbs. For Shabnum, the quads' birth follows years of fertility problems. 

“We’d desperately wanted a sibling for our daughter, Shireen, (now six),” she says. “I worried she’d be lonely on her own. But when Shireen turned two, I had a miscarriage. I was only a few weeks gone but I was devastated.”

Somehow, Shabnum managed to pick up the pieces and ploughed herself into her career instead. She went on to complete a degree in accounting, before getting a job as a management accountant trainee.

“When my periods stopped about two years later, I put it down to all the stress I was under with my job,” she confesses. “Although I enjoyed it, it was quite pressurising and draining. After nine months and still no period though, I decided I’d best go and see my GP.”

Much to her shock and horror, following tests, Shabnum was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

“While it was a relief to find out what was wrong, I still couldn’t help but get upset,” she says. “I was told my chances of having any more children were significantly reduced. Having had the miscarriage too, I knew it meant Shireen would probably be the only child I‘d ever have.”

PCOS can lead to a resistance to insulin, causing the body to produce excessively high levels in an attempt to compensate. Shabnum was put on a course of prescribed drugs to help her condition.

“My periods started immediately,” says Shabnum. “I was just glad to have my cycle back. I felt like a woman again!”

                                                  WORRY

However, just three months later, in November 2005, her periods stopped once more. By December, Shabnum was starting to worry.

“I was scared. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought maybe it was to do with my PCOS.”

Yet friends came up with another explanation. They advised her to do a pregnancy test, just in case the impossible had happened.

“I couldn’t even imagine I was pregnant,” she says. “But I did a test anyway. I nearly fainted when it came up positive!”

But the blue line was only faint and Shabnum didn’t trust it. So she went out and bought two more tests. Each showed the same - she was expecting.

“I told Khizran and he was over-the-moon. I was too, although I couldn’t help but feel wary.”

Just seven-weeks into the pregnancy, Shabnum started bleeding. She was rushed to hospital, suspecting she was having another miscarriage.

“When I began spotting, I felt sick,” she sighs. “I was sure I was losing the baby just like I had before.”

But while she and Khizran were given some surprising news, it wasn’t quite what they’d been expecting.

“I was given a scan straight away. When the midwife pointed to three grey blobs on the monitor, I assumed they were cysts. They looked just like they had at previous scans for my PCOS.

“But then, she explained that they weren’t cysts, they were sacs containing babies. There were two babies in two separate sacs and two in one sac. I was pregnant with quads!”

                                             BOMBSHELL

For Shabnum and Khizran, it was a bombshell on the biggest of scales.

“Neither of us could take it in,” she says. “We’d prepared ourselves for the worst. We just weren’t ready to be told something so good. To still be carrying one baby was shock enough, let alone four!

“Khizran was ecstatic,” she goes on. “He was so chuffed, he just left me and ran out of the room to ring people. He was jumping up and down in the corridor, telling everyone we were having quads!”

Fortunately, the bleeding proved to be just a scare. It was only as the reality began to sink in, that Shabnum grew increasingly concerned. She was told quadruplet pregnancies normally only stood a 20 per cent chance of survival.

“I tried not to get my hopes up,” she says. “I knew it could so easily all go wrong. That‘s why Khizran and I hardly bought anything for them. We didn‘t want to tempt fate.”

Over the next few weeks, Shabnum was closely monitored and went for regular scans. Each time that she went back, she expected to receive bad news. But it didn’t come. The pregnancy went past 15-weeks, 16, 17.......

By 26-weeks, Shabnum had doubled her dress size 14.

“I was huge,” she says. “My legs had even turned black from the weight of the babies and I could barely walk. I was forced to go on crutches.”

Then, at 28-weeks, she slipped on a chocolate wrapper and fell down the stairs at home.

“My stomach was so massive, I couldn’t even see my feet anymore,” she says. “I didn’t notice the wrapper which Shireen must have dropped. Next thing I know, I’m tumbling down the stairs on my bottom.”

                                               HOSPITAL

But unbelievably, they all escaped unharmed and battled on.

“By 32-weeks and three days, I really had had enough,” says Shabnum. “I couldn’t take it a second longer. So, I was booked in for a C-section.”

As Khizran had fainted at Shireen’s birth, he waited outside the theatre. Shabnum’s sister, Anjim, 35, was by her side instead.

Haider, who had been lying at the bottom of her womb, was the littlest of the quads and was bought into the world first at 12.37pm. Within the next five minutes, the other three quads were born.

“It was a bit of a blur,” remembers Shabnum. “So much pressure was being applied to my stomach that I was repeatedly sick. I was just glad Anjim was with me. She kept me updated on what was going on.”

All the quads were small and needed help breathing. It wasn’t until two days later that Shabnum got to see her foursome in the neo-natal unit for the first time.

“It was very emotional,” she says. “They were so little and fragile, looked like four miniature dolls. But the main thing was they were alive and doing well.”

Gradually, the quads put on weight and after nearly four weeks in hospital, they were strong enough to go home.

                                             LEARNING

For Shabnum and Khizran, it is already proving to be a steep learning curve.

“My life has changed practically overnight,” admits Shabnum. “I rarely have a moment to myself. I get up around 4.30am to give them a feed and from then onwards it’s a continuous round of nappy-changing, bottle-feeding, bathing, changing clothes, right up until 11.30 at night.

“I’ve got an industrial-sized washing machine to wash all the babygros, vests and bibs they wear and I’ve ordered a four-seater buggy from the US.

“I’m lucky though, in that I get a lot of help from outside and Khizran takes Shireen to school and assists with the quads as much as he can.”

While it's still early days, already, the babies are developing distinct personalities.

“Haider and Zareen are the most demanding ones and cry a lot,” says Shabnum. “Zayan is quieter and more placid and Maheen is the most patient.”

But, Shabnum still has trouble telling them apart.

“Physically, they’re all so alike with their tufts of dark hair and bluey grey eyes. Being non-identical, the boys are slightly easier. Haider is smaller than the others. I call him ‘the weakest link!’ The other boy, Zayan, is fatter and more lively.

“But the girls are horrendously hard. They’re identical totally and I can’t tell the difference whatsoever. As a result, I’ve had to keep their name tags on their ankles from the hospital. I know they’ll be too big for these soon though, so I need to come up with something else. Maybe I’ll have to put different coloured nail-varnish on their feet or something!”

However, the biggest problem for the couple is space.

                                               BIGGER

“At the moment, we only live in a two-bedroomed house, so it is a tight squeeze!” explains Shabnum. “The quads have their own room and currently sleep in two big cots, while Shireen is in with us. But it’s not ideal and we’ll have to move somewhere bigger in the not too distant future.

“Fortunately, Shireen’s loving it all and dotes on her new brothers and sisters. In fact, when her little friends come round, she makes them all queue politely at the door and lets them see the quads one by one!”

So would Shabnum be without her new-found large family?

“Certainly not!” she laughs. “I admit it is tiring. But I don’t mind. I know just what a miracle the quads are and I’m so grateful to have them.”

Khizran says: “I was completely gobsmacked when I found out we were having quads. When I told people, they were saying I was superman! I basked in it. I love Shabnum and we have a strong marriage. But the quads are such a blessing and have definitely completed our family. I couldn’t be more proud.”

WORDS COPYRIGHT: JENNY BRAY, TRUE-TO-LIFE FEATURES

PICTURES: ROWAN GRIFFITHS, TRUE-TO-LIFE FEATURES 

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