Moses quadruplets say hello to Yarmouth

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

There were seven babies on the maternity floor of the Yarmouth Regional Hospital on Friday. Four of them were part of the same family.

Just a little over two weeks since being born at the IWK-Grace hospital in Halifax on July 2, the Moses quadruplets – the children of Jamie and Nola Moses of South Ohio – were one step closer to being home. They were settled into their new room at Yarmouth hospital where they’ll spend a little more time before going home with mom and dad.

It’s not expected that they’ll have a long hospital stay. The babies, which were born during Nola’s 34th week of pregnancy – a remarkably long pregnancy by quadruplet standards – are healthy and none had respiratory problems, which is usually what prolongs a hospital stay in multiple births.

The names and birth weights of the babies are Rhys George Moses, three pounds, two ounces; Jack Thomas Moses, three pounds, nine ounces; Sophie Launa Moses, four pounds, 11 ounces an Liam Kenneth Moses, five pounds, eight ounces.

The babies arrived in Yarmouth last Thursday, each in their own ambulance with their own nurse. On Friday their parents invited the Vanguard/NovaNewsNow to come meet the babies, who aside from family and hospital staff had yet to make their official debut.

Considering there were four babies, it was peacefully quiet walking into the room. Liam was asleep in his bassinet. Sophie was being changed by her mother and grandmother. Jack was being rocked in his grandfather’s arms and Rhys had found a place to snuggle on his father’s chest.

But peaceful shouldn’t be confused with hectic. Even though the family is in a hospital, for the parents last week was really the first time they got to be more hands-on with their care of their babies. At the IWK-Grace hospital the babies spent their time in the neonatal intensive care unit.

So what’s a typical day like now?

“Our first typical day was yesterday and it was scary,” Jamie says.

“We change them, feed them, make them go to sleep and then we crash,” adds Nola. “Then we wake up and change them, feed them, put them down.”

The couple works on three-hour cycles, with about an hour and half of sleep for themselves in between.

“As soon as I hit the pillow I’m like, gone,” Nola laughs.

The couple spent about five years trying to get pregnant before they finally, after exhausting all of their other options, turned to in-vitro fertilization. Nola spent 13 weeks at the hospital before the babies were born.

But for all the time it took to get them here, their arrival in the world was very fast, just a couple of minutes by cesarean section.

“I told Nola, this is going to be a lot quicker than you think. As we were there she was starting to get nervous and then we heard, ‘Okay, first one’s out.’ Then the second and third babies were born 30 seconds apart. And then they said, ‘The fourth one’s out’,” Jamie recalls.

Adds Nola laughing, “And I was thinking, please don’t find another one.”

The couple’s home in South Ohio has been undergoing a lot of renovations to prepare for the arrival of the babies. Aside from the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that are excited for them to be home, is their 13-year-old sister Taylor, Jamie’s daughter.

Meanwhile, the couple continues to be extremely thankful for all of the generousity shown to them from family, friends and even strangers.

When the babies are a little older, and their immune systems are stronger, the couple intends to hold a meet and greet, probably at the community centre in South Ohio, so the public can have a chance to meet the babies.

In the meantime they’ll just get used to being a family. And also remembering what sleep used to be like.