Helene Beck stands with her 16-year-old quadruplets Rosie, Lexie, Pearl and Lewis.
Monday, Oct. 19, 2015 | 2 a.m.
Four for fitness
The quadruplets, who dub themselves the “Quadinators,” try to teach young people about how fitness can help teens cope with pressure and feel empowered. They film videos about exercise routines, eating right and making good decisions, then share them via social media. The project not only allowed them to bond and encourage others, it helped Pearl, who has cerebral palsy, gain strength. “I feel great,” Pearl said. “Before, I had 16 surgeries on my hips, my feet and my ankles, but it has been like six years now. So now it turns out that I’m just building up muscle. The owner of the crossfit place we go says he can have me walking in two years. My goal is to walk across the stage to get my diploma without crutches.”
I had a fertility issue and went to University Medical Center. The doctor said, “Give me three months.” So I had three months of fertility injections and saw the doctor three times a week.
We found out we were having one baby. Then we went back for an ultrasound and found out there were two babies. We were excited. Then we went back for another ultrasound and found out there were three babies; it was like, “OK, we can manage this.” Then, when there were four, it was like, “OK, two for each of us. Please let’s not find any more because then who’s going to hold them?”
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It was a little surprising, but you only get what you can handle. So I say I wouldn’t have done it any other way. If I had had only one child, I think I would’ve been bored.
They put me in the hospital early. The doctor let me come home at 28 weeks, then I went back in to have them at 32 weeks.
I didn’t know everything that was going on in the background, how many people were in the room, because they put this big sheet over me. I’m looking at the ceiling and can’t feel anything. But they told me there were 40 people in there — 10 for each baby.
After the C-section, I slept straight through; I don’t think I even ate anything. I woke up the next morning, and I remember picking up my phone and asking, “Can you put me through to the NICU? This is Helene Beck. Are my babies OK?”
That afternoon, I got up and knocked on the NICU door and said, “I want to see my babies.” They were shocked because I walked over there and had just had surgery the day before. You’re not supposed to be able to do that.
The first time I saw them, they were beautiful. It’s an overwhelming feeling I can’t explain.
Pearl was my first and largest, Baby A, and she was 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Lexie was 2 pounds, 15 ounces. Lewis was 2 pounds, 3 ounces, and my little baby Rose — both of them are like my miracle babies — was 1 pound, 7 ounces. She’s our survivor.
Pearl came home after four weeks. Lexie came home after six. Lewis came home at about 10 weeks. And Rosie — I had to pry her out of there, she was so little — they were trying to wait until she was 5 pounds, but I didn’t want to wait any longer. She was in there for about 12 weeks.
The hardest part was when I had Pearl home and three at the hospital because I was running back and forth. Then when I had two home, it got even more confusing because I had even less time to go to the hospital. When they were little, everything was scheduled.
Pregnancy was difficult as heck. Then I had four infants, and I was like, I’m sleep deprived, I can’t think straight, but I don’t care because they’re growing, they’re crawling, they’re doing all the things they need to do.
With four toddlers, I was running after them all the time, trying to keep them fed, clothed, bathed, teeth brushed. Then I had four young children, and it was about shaping and molding them. It became more mental.
Now I’ve got four teenagers, and it’s still a lot of scheduling because I’m the taxi service, but it’s about being ahead of them mentally so I can understand where they’re coming from. I can give them direction and let them still be who they are but crack the whip when I need to.
It has been rewarding and challenging at the same time. It has been a learning experience all along the way. I’ve learned a lot about diabetes with Lexie and cerebral palsy with Pearl. Rosie is shorter. Lewis is a boy. They have taught us a lot, and they have taught me a lot. It has been an incredible experience.
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