KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Kaitlin Hartman first learned she was pregnant, it was already the start of a miracle. Now, nearly one year since delivering quadruplets, she and her husband Josh reunited with the doctors who helped make it happen.
The Hartman family, including three girls and a boy, returned to the Overland Park Regional Medical Center on Thursday. It's where the babies spent the first two months of their lives and Hartman spent 67 days on bed rest.
"It's truly amazing to be back here. A year ago right now, I was still on bed rest with my head upside down," said Hartman, who recalled having to sleep in that position due to the nature of her pregnancy. "I became known as the upside-down patient."
Hartman's journey to motherhood started with a devastating blow during her teenage years. She was told that because of a severe hormonal imbalance, her chances of one day becoming pregnant were slim. That changed after she was injected with hormone treatments.
She and her husband sought the help of Kansas City specialists to assist in the high-risk pregnancy. The couple found Dr. Brent Finley and Dr. Tracey Cowles, who brought in Dr. Rabiya Suleman, a board-certified OB-GYN.
"The Hartmans' experienced a rare phenomenon known as spontaneous quads. Each baby had their own placenta," said Finley. "The odds for a couple to have four babies are one in 2.5 million."
The rarity became a reality for the Hartman family on November 17, 2017. At just 30 weeks and one day (or seven and half months), Hartman gave birth to the quadruplets on World Prematurity Day.
"It was such a huge blessing and answer to prayer. It's just hard to believe now that they're walking and crawling. We didn't know this time last year if they were going to all four make it here," Hartman said.
Teagan, the oldest by two minutes, weighed 3 lbs. 1.9 oz. Braylon weighed just 2 lbs. 14.5 oz. Ainsley, the second daughter and the third born, weighed 2 lbs. 3 oz. and Sadie, the youngest, weighed 2 lbs. 4 oz.
The babies remained in the hospital's Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit until they gained their strength and as their mother explained, they haven't missed a beat.
"Their birthday is on Saturday and they'll be one year old. It goes so fast. They're all crawling. We've got one walker, our ambitious and motivated boy," said Hartman.
