The Emery Family's Full House

Robert Emery, 39, From Constantia Kloof in Roodepoort, Shares How His Wheelchair-bound Wife, Chantel, 36, Gave Birth to Quadruplets With the Help of Rob’s Eldest Son, Joshua, 14
 

Chantel was in a car accident in 2008, which left her paralysed from the waist down. Initially, doctors said she wouldn’t be able to have children, so we were surprised when she fell pregnant with Scarlett, now four years old, and were thrilled to grow our family and give Joshua, 14, Justine, 13, and Danika, 12, a baby sister. My two oldest daughters live with their mom.

We found out in January 2015 that we were expecting another miracle baby, and after a few visits to our gynaecologist, the scans revealed that we’d actually be having three! They were due on 27 September, but around 27 June, Chantel just wasn’t feeling quite herself. She’d wet the bed that night and decided to wear a nappy to avoid any other accidents. When she went to the bathroom at 9.45am on 28 June and took off the nappy, she was shocked to see a baby in it. She obviously hadn’t felt the contractions and the baby had just slipped out. Joshua and Scarlett were home so she called Joshua in a panic to help her. When he walked into the bathroom and saw what was happening, he called me home from an expo I was hosting and gathered towels to help deliver the babies and keep them warm.

When I arrived home, Scarlett was standing in the bedroom wide-eyed while Joshua sat in the bathroom with Chantel who held our three little boys in her arms. One of the babies had fallen and his umbilical cord had snapped, so I wrapped him up and handed him to Josh who kept him warm and made sure he was breathing. When my father-in-law arrived, he and Josh took the baby straight to the emergency room while we waited about 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive so we could cut the umbilical cords and send the babies off to hospital. We waited for another ambulance to collect Chantel and take her to hospital shortly afterwards.