Pregnancies can be unplanned but equally welcomed blessings for parents. However, sometimes women find out they are pregnant at the most unexpected time, and it can take a moment to digest the news. When Katelyn Yates went to the hospital on April 1, 2024, with a sore throat, she expected to leave with a diagnosis and maybe some medication. She never imagined that staff would tell her she was pregnant with quadruplets.
Yates, 20, explained to Today that after she arrived at the hospital, staff wanted to perform an X-ray to determine the cause of her pain. They asked her to take a pregnancy test, just in case, because the radiation from an X-ray is harmful to unborn babies. Her test indeed came back positive, and a test for human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG, showed levels “off the charts.” Not only was Yates pregnant, but she was also going to have quadruplets.
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It took a minute for Yates to digest the news.
She told Today she thought the doctor was playing an April Fool’s Day joke on her and her fiancĂ©, Julian Bueker, 21. The pair dated for six months before learning they would soon be parents to four babies. “He was so excited,” Yates told Today of Bueker. She said that helped ease her nerves.
Yates had a difficult pregnancy.
Yates was diagnosed with preeclampsia in her third trimester and faced serious health complications such as a failing liver and kidneys. Toward the end of her pregnancy, she began to have lung and nerve problems, according to a Caringbridge site. Additionally, she told Today she couldn’t breathe on her own.
Doctors delivered her quads via C-section on October 17. Yates wrote on Caringbridge she delivered at 28 weeks of gestation.
“Our beautiful children are named Zya Grace bueker, Max, Ashton bueker, Elliott Ryker bueker, and Elizabeth Taylor bueker. They will remain in the Nicu until their due date, which is January 5 of 2025 although they are doing very well to be very premature,” she wrote.
These are no ordinary quads.
Having multiples is rare, but Max and Elliot are identical twins. Each of the babies weighed between 1 lb. 2 oz. and 2 lb. 6 oz. The mom of four said her babies were once the size of her hand and are changing so fast. “They’re doing phenomenal. They are gaining weight and growing,” Yates told Today. “Elizabeth is about six grams away from reaching 2 pounds.”
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Loved ones wanted to help.
Yates, originally from Montana, was far from home when she delivered her babies in Springfield, Illinois. Heidi Rink, a friend from her hometown of Ballentine, helped get Rodney and Deb Yates to Illinois to be with their grandchildren.
“I knew that they needed help. My husband and I made sure they got to Illinois,” Rink told KPAX. “They’re just amazing people, just hard workers, and they would give the shirt off their back to help anyone in need.”
Rink also helped set up donation sites in Ballentine so families could support the quads and their parents. She shared the information on Facebook with her gratitude to the community.
“Thank you all for your donations, kind words, support, and prayers. Most families have 9 months to prepare for a baby. We have more babies and less time. Hoping all babies are in MT around Christmas!!!!!!! We cannot do this alone, and you are showing us what a great community we live in. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much,” Rink wrote.
