Virginia couple Michael and Margaret Baudinet struggled with infertility and suffered the devastating loss of miscarriage. This Christmas, however, they had five reasons to be ecstatic – their five babies. The Daily Mail reported on the sudden expansion of the Baudinet family. Their quintuplets, Ava, Camille (Millie), Clara, Isabelle, and Luke were born on December 4, 2016.
Proud mom Margaret has been sharing updates on the family’s blog, “Bundles of Baudinets.” Margaret and Michael decided to temporarily move to Arizona, so that the quintuplets could be in the care of renowned physician Dr. John Elliot. Margaret wrote on her blog about why they chose Dr. Elliot for his work with multiples. Despite the hardship of living far from friends and family, the Baudinets wanted to give their quintuplets the best care possible.
Sadly, many parents in similar circumstances are pressured to “selectively reduce,” a euphemism for killing one or more of the babies through abortion in order to increase the chances of healthy pregnancy and delivery for the other babies. Margaret shared her reaction to being pressured to “reduce the pregnancy”:
As you can imagine, this is terrifying to hear, especially after you’ve heard that if you don’t reduce, your kids may have severe disabilities if they are lucky enough to even survive (much less you, the mother…oh yeah, almost forgot about you!).
Nonetheless, Margaret was able to carry the quintuplets to 32 weeks. The four girls and one boy were born healthy, all weighing between 3 and 4 pounds. Millie and Ava have faced health scares and all the babies spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit due to their small size. However, the quintuplets are growing and getting stronger. After a small operation, Ava’s digestive problems improved. Millie is being kept on oxygen until her lungs mature, but she is expected to be taken off the supplemental oxygen soon.
In addition to the attentive care of NICU nurses, family has made all the difference in caring for the babies. Margaret writes about how Clara, the strongest of the quintuplets, stabilized Millie’s breathing by lying next to her and holding her hand. The Baudinets certainly have all the Christmas presents they could ask for in their five beautiful children.
Reflecting on their painful journey of infertility and loss, Margaret gives encouragement to other parents. She writes,
For those of you waiting on the parenthood experience, please know it’s worth the wait. As one who has waited, please know God will bless each and every day you wait. Joy comes in the morning. This I know for sure.
Margaret’s words are wonderful encouragement to the countless men and women struggling with infertility and the grief of miscarriage.
We wish the Christmas quintuplets well as they continue to grow and prepare to move home to Virginia!