I collapsed on hearing we were having quadruplets

PIC: Moses Emuding(R) and Esther Alupo(L) with their quadruplets

In the build up to the event, we profile multiples families from across the country.

In Uganda, it is rare for quadruplets to make it to their first birthday, but Moses Emuding, 33, and Esther Alupo, 27, of Bukedea Town council, Bukedea district seem to be in this rear category.

“As a couple, we are humbled to announce that the grace of the almighty God has hovered around.
The once “tiny little things” have grown into bouncing, energetic, restless, 13 months old toddlers,” Emuding says.
The three boys and a girl, were named Opio, Odong, Okello and Ekiriat in order of birth. Other than a slight variation in their weights, they have uniformly responded to the child growth milestones.
“They have now started saying ‘mama’ and ‘papa’,” their mother says.

When Sunday Vision visited the couple’s home, Okello was asleep, but the three were going about their activities in the carefree nature of toddlers.

A keen observation of the lively little ones reveals that they have since paired in terms of physical appearance. Opio (the first one, at birth) who exudes relatively pronounced facial features, is a perfect replica of Okello (the third), while Odong (second) shares the looks with Ekiriat (fourth).

Okello and Opio are social, but can sometimes go about their independent lives. “They can at times become cheerful loners, who like playing by themselves,” explains their mother.

On the other hand, Odong and Ekiriat, are ever yearning for attention from whoever they are familiar with, around the home.

“Yet the two won’t play together without putting up a fight over toys, let alone slipping into screaming tantrums,” says their mother in a resigned tone.

Odong and Ekiriat constantly fight for the laps of their parents.
“They cry if they see any of their siblings settled on my laps or that of their father,” observes Alupo.
Yet the two are wary of strangers.

Like most multiple births, the quadruplets are mysterious little ones. When one of them succumbs to fever, virtually all them will suffer from the same ailment within the next few days.

“Lately, when one of them falls sick, I take all of them to hospital, although that option is undoubtedly expensive,” Emuding explains, adding: “The trick has borne fruits, as usually results of blood tests have found two or almost all the sibling positive to the ailment,” explains Emuding.

The quadruplets: Opio, Odong, Okello, and Ekiriat

 
LEARNING ABOUT THE MULTIPLE PREGNANCY
When Alupo missed her periods for two consecutive months, she informed her husband who sounded delighted.
“A few months earlier we had a row with him, after he accused me of deliberately refusing to conceive,” narrates Alupo who says she did not take any fertility drug.

Emuding is quick to pick the tale from his wife. “I was growing impatient with her for we had lived for eight months, but I couldn’t notice a sign of conception from her,” he says.
But the discomfort did not set in until the pregnancy turned five months old.

“The pregnancy bump had grown bigger and it was as though I was carrying rocks. I was increasingly getting strained under its weight,” Alupo recalls.

Sharing her experience with women friends who had already been through motherhood often weighed her heart down as they found her woes a lot strange.

“They would suggest that I try out a scan to fi nd out why my pregnancy seemed strange,” reminiscence Alupo.

Her most disturbing moment was when the little ones turned in the belly. “I would feel multiple painful jolts all over the belly, as they would kick about. This usually rendered me nauseous,” she calls.

 
The couple went to Mbale for an antenatal visit and after a lengthy consultation, a scan revealed that she was carrying a pregnancy of triplets. “I literally passed out when I saw three separate fetuses in her womb,” recalls Emuding. Alupo could not hold back her emotions, as she broke into screams of distress.

Later, Emuding had mustered courage, calling back home not only to relay the shocking news to their parents, but also to ask if their family lineages ever had a history of multiple pregnancies.

“Both families had a clean history, save for my paternal aunt who bore a set of twins,” Emuding says.
The couple was referred to Mulago Hospital for further support.
At Mulago, Emuding almost came to tears, when it was revealed that his wife was actually carrying a pregnancy of quadruplets.
“We kept on asking God why us, but gradually came to terms with the news,” he says.

LABOUR
Labour pains struck at 8.5 months of the pregnancy. The night before the delivery, Alupo felt a heavy contraction that upon subsiding resulted into discharge.

Already aware of a multiple birth
that was coming, Emuding had long ruled out the idea of risking the life of both his wife and little ones in the hands of less experienced health practitioners in private hospitals.

He had rushed his wife to Mbale Referral Hospital at around 3:00 in the morning of April 26, 2015.
A gynaecologist, Dr James Waiswa, who had become Alupo’s consultant, was around to receive them.
A scan showed that three of the babies had presented themselves in an abnormal way with legs facing the birth canal instead of the head. “I had to immediately recommend a caesarian delivery,” recalls Dr. Waiswa.

“From the time she was ushered into the theatre, I could not stop pacing about the walk way near the theatre,” Emuding says. The caesarian delivery lasted 45 minutes and the twins weighed between 1.5kg and 1kg.

The quadruplets spent a month in intensive care and under observation at the hospital. “Two of my sisters and two sisters-in-law stayed at the hospital to help out with the babies. My wife would express breast milk every two hours, we would measure the breast milk in millitres (ml) and feed each of the quadruplets separately,” Emuding recalls.

They had to switch to formula in the third month. The first three months were diffi cult, but the couple later settled into the new role and are really enjoying the quadruplets.

“Unlike couples with grim tales where a spouse would unceremoniously forsake the other on learning about a multiple birth, we consider ourselves as each other’s pillar of strength. I am so happy that together, we have overcome the most difficult moment,” says Emuding with a beaming smile.