A woman, heartbroken after losing four children, gave birth to naturally conceived identical quadruplets and has just celebrated their second birthday.
A pediatric nurse from Phelps, New York, Karissa Vancamp-Smith, 34, and her husband, Dillon, 32, discovered they were expecting in December 2021. After enduring three miscarriages and an infant loss, they were shocked when the sonographer revealed Mrs. Vancamp-Smith was carrying quads during a private six-week scan.
It wasn’t until Mrs. Vancamp-Smith gave birth at 29 weeks and three days that they learned the quads were identical.
“I had a wonderful pregnancy, but after developing preeclampsia, medics decided to deliver them early,” the mom said. “After my previous miscarriages, I knew I wouldn’t cope if I lost another. Finding out we were having quads was a huge shock, but it almost felt like fate.”
The babies—Zackariah Dever, 2 pounds, 15 ounces; Lincoln Jesse, 2 pounds, 6 ounces; Ian Shane, 2 pounds, 6 ounces; and Daniel Robert, 2 pounds—were born via cesarian section on June 17, 2022; they were all home seven weeks later.
Mrs. Vancamp-Smith and her husband were hesitant to try for a child again after losing three pregnancies and an infant over eight years.
The mom-of-six lost her first set of twins, Lucas and Ryan in July 2014 after falling into preterm labor at 20 weeks.
“Lucas was stillborn, and Ryan lived for seven minutes—it hit us hard,” she said. "We held a private funeral and planted memorial trees for them in our garden.
“Dillon and I always wanted children, but we gave ourselves time to grieve before trying again.'’
Heartbroken but wishing for a baby, the couple of 10 years, tried again four months later, and Mrs. Vancamp-Smith became pregnant straight away. She gave birth to Tyler, now 8, in May 2015.
“When Tyler came along, healthy and happy, we were overjoyed,'' she said.
In June 2017, Karrisa became pregnant with twins again, but at 23 weeks and three days, she had silent preterm labor in Nov. 2017, leading to the birth of Elijah and Colton via C-section. Sadly, Elijah passed away 12 days later from necrotizing pneumonia, a rare but severe lung condition.
“I didn’t have any signs I was going into labor, but I knew something wasn’t right,” she said. “Colton was up to his hips in my birth canal, and I had to deliver them right away. Three days after they were born, we found out Colton had a grade four bleed on his brain, and he had a 10 percent chance of survival—but we chose to fight for him.
“By day 12, Elijah had caught an infection, but it was too late to save him—my heart shattered.”
Colton, now 6, spent 132 days in the hospital and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in November 2019.
Mrs. Vancamp-Smith said: “The first year of Colton’s life, we were in and out of the hospital because his immune system was nonexistent.
“It took a while for us to adjust to life with a special needs child, but he’s our little fighter—we’re proud of him. It was during this time that I found out I had an incompetent cervix, so I had surgery to avoid preterm labor again.”
Two years after the birth of Colton, in August 2019, Karissa became pregnant with a baby daughter they named Willa Grace but lost her at 14 weeks after her heart stopped beating.
“We were completely broken,” the mom said. “At this point, I had lost four babies, and I couldn’t go through this pain again.”
In October 2021, Mrs. Vancamp-Smith learned she was pregnant with quads.
“Immediately, two babies popped up on the screen, and then a third baby came, and then a fourth,” she said. “We were speechless.”
She managed to carry the quadruplets until 29 weeks and three days, until preeclampsia forced medics to deliver them in June 2022 at Strong Memorial Hospital.
“Given my history, I made sure every pain or ache I had was checked by a doctor,” Mrs. Vancamp-Smith said. “I was dehydrated, and my blood pressure was through the roof, so I stayed in hospital for 10 days before the boys had to come out. I was terrified, but I tried to stay calm for my babies.
“We had no idea they were identical until a doctor noticed their similarity and the single placenta. They were healthy but stayed in the hospital due to prematurity.”
Seven weeks later, the couple took their quads home, and this June, they celebrated their second birthday.
“A lot had to change,” she said. “I had to give up full-time work, and nights have been sleepless.
“My house is very noisy as each of my boys have a mind of their own—and I’m up to my eyeballs in laundry.”
The proud mom says her 2-year-old quads have grown into ‘individual personalities, despite being similar in many ways.”
“Tyler and Colton love being big brothers—they’re obsessed with them,” she said.
“We have memorial trees for Lucas, Ryan, Elijah, and Willa Grace, and we'll keep their memories alive. Although it’s tough to accept I’ve lost four babies, I’m thankful to have six beautiful boys.”
