An Edmonton family of three will soon become a family of seven, with the arrival of quadruplets.
It’s extremely rare to have spontaneous quadruplets. The odds are one in 67 million.
“There have only been a handful of quadruplets that have been born in Alberta in the last 10 to 20 years,” said Tara Watson.
Tara and Tommy Watson will be parents to the sixth set of quadruplets in Alberta.
What’s even more remarkable — Tara’s second cousin is the mother of the Webb quadruplets born in 2016.
“I never, ever would’ve expected, knowing that there were quads in the family, that it would ever happen to us, but I did always want a big family when I started dating Tommy and I guess we’re going to get it,” said Tara.
“If my mom was still alive, she would be so proud to have them in the family,” said Greg Sereda, Tara’s dad.
Their family and friends got together to find out the genders of the babies on Friday. Tara and Tommy revealed they’ll be having two girls and two boys.
“As soon as we opened the blue, the first blue box, I gave a look to the crowd and a cheer,” said Tommy. “I love Emmy Lou, and I love that we have daughters, but I’m really glad that we get to have a couple boys too.”
This news is even more special for the family as great grandma Mary Hebert will go from one great grandchild to five.
“It was a surprise, a real shock, but she looks great, and I just hope everything turns out well,” said Mary.
It hasn’t been easy for Tara.
“From that first pregnancy test, it was immediately more difficult than my first, my singleton,” Tara said. “Immediately more sick, more tired, a lot more symptoms along the way, but also a lot more medical attention.”
She’s now 25 weeks along.
“As I get further along, I’m definitely more uncomfortable, things are getting harder, but I’m just so lucky that, to this point at least, the babies are healthy and I’m healthy and we’re doing good,” said Tara.
“It was really awesome to speak to a family member who’s had this firsthand experience and understands what this journey is like in a high-risk pregnancy, understands what it means to be in the NICU and to have premature babies and to come home with four newborns all at once,” said Tara.
The family is expecting in just nine weeks and they’re hard at work making lists and planning.
“Now is crunch time. Now is time where we really got to start gathering,” said Tara.
“Fifty diapers a day, that’s what they say,” said Elaine Sereda, Tara’s mom.
They’ll need four times everything. To help, they’ve set up a GoFundMe and meal train.
“It is a significant financial change that we weren’t expecting but we know that we’re well taken care of… and we’re so grateful for everybody’s help,” said Tara.
“It’s going to be a very busy and exciting and hard journey,” Tommy said. “I know that if anyone’s up for it, it’s us.”
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