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Mom Delivering Triplets Gets Surprise She Never Dreamed Possible When DRs Discover Baby Number 4

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When doctors told Chris and Vivian Van Gorder that they were expecting triplets, they were surprised, but when delivery day came they found out that there was one more surprise left for them.

Vivian went to all of the necessary sonograms and doctor’s appointments to ensure the babies’ health as well as her own.

On May 21, 2018, the couple went to the hospital to have their babies delivered by cesarean section.

The couple had prepared as much as possible; they got furniture for the nursery and even bought a van big enough to fit their soon-to-be family of eight.

After delivering three healthy babies, the doctor noticed something unexpected in Vivian’s uterus.

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C. Tony Dunn, the doctor said, “At delivery, we delivered the three we were expecting, and I reached in and felt an elbow and said ‘we got a surprise.'”

There was a fourth baby!



Somehow this fourth baby had hidden from all of the previous sonograms. It is the first reported case of quadruplets born at the Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center.

“Yesterday we had the privilege of hearing mom play the lullaby, which is part of the tradition here, and it gave me chills just to hear it play once, and then twice, and then a third time, and then a fourth time,” said Glenn Robinson, president of the hospital.

Chris, a religion professor at Baylor University, joked that God must have “a sense of humor.” At 57 years old, he will have to start worrying about changing diapers, paying for preschool, and all of the other extra responsibilities that come with newborns.



The multiple births were not due to fertility treatment, although Vivian did say that twins ran in her family.

The two boys and two girls were born at 33 weeks and each weighed around 5 pounds.

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All four babies are healthy and growing. Two did need oxygen after the birth but have since been taken off. “All four of them have turned out miraculously healthy. None on breathing tubes now, jaundice is going away, and they’re eating a little bit,” Chris said.

The oldest three children are named Clare, Tristan, and Erik; Chris and Vivian are still trying to agree on a name for their little surprise.



The couple is thankful for the amount of support they’ve already received from family, the religion department at Baylor, and Hope Fellowship, the church that they attend.

Matt Porter, a member of Hope Fellowship, said that the nursery was beginning to look empty and that they’d have to “dust it off” for the four newest additions to the congregation.

Chris said, “Apparently God’s plan was not our plan, but we are fortunate and incredibly blessed. There are people around the world having children without the tremendous support we’re receiving.”

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Kayla has been a staff writer for The Western Journal since 2018.
Kayla Kunkel began writing for The Western Journal in 2018.
Birthplace
Tennessee
Honors/Awards
Lifetime Member of the Girl Scouts
Location
Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
News, Crime, Lifestyle & Human Interest




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