Auburn Couple Celebrates Historic Milestone

Becca and Lavareis Bryant from Auburn recently marked a year since they welcomed their four youngest children, unintentionally setting a world record in the process.

Their quadruplets, Lainey, Kali, Lennon, and Koen, were born at just over 23 weeks into Becca’s pregnancy, which makes them the most premature quadruplets to survive globally.

This achievement broke a record held since 1997 by the Tepper family, whose children arrived eleven days later in the gestation timeline, as noted by Guinness World Records.

“Finding out that our babies are the most premature quads really highlighted how fortunate we were that they all survived,” Becca mentioned in a recent UAB release.

She added, “We had support from family, friends, and the UAB team throughout the journey. Everyone was fighting for our babies and for our family.”

Upon learning that Becca was expecting quadruplets last February, her local doctor coordinated care with the Women and Infants Center at UAB.

Dr. Ayodeji Sanusi, Becca’s maternal-fetal medicine specialist at UAB, stated, “The chances of having this particular type of quadruplets are about one in seven million.”

He explained, “Three eggs were fertilized, and one of them split, leading to two of the babies being identical while the other two were fraternal. This situation contributed to the complexity and high-risk nature of her pregnancy.”

At around 19 weeks, Becca’s cervix began shortening, indicating a risk of premature labor. After noticing further changes during her next visit, she was admitted to UAB Hospital for close monitoring.

“We didn’t want to risk going into early labor or face complications with the babies, especially being over two hours away,” Becca recalled.

“Leaving my three other kids was tough, but I recognized how critical it was to be at UAB, where specialized care was available.”

A few weeks later, during a routine visit, Becca’s water broke unexpectedly.

That night, she developed a high fever, and both her and the babies’ heart rates increased, signaling an infection likely attributed to her water breaking, as mentioned in the release.

“After discussions with the Bryants and the neonatology team, we decided to perform an emergency C-section, aware of the significant risks associated with extreme prematurity,” Sanusi stated.

He emphasized, “It was an all-hands-on-deck situation, with even non-scheduled team members coming in to help.”

Becca delivered the four babies shortly after 2:00 a.m., and they were immediately taken to the Level IV UAB Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit.

According to UAB, babies born severely prematurely can face numerous complications, including brain bleeds, chronic lung disease, bowel injury, infections, and sepsis.

Each of the quadruplets needed various forms of ventilation, medications, and multiple central lines during their care.

“There were countless moments where we felt we might lose one of them,” Becca shared.

“But I kept saying, ‘We came in with four, and we’re taking four home.’ We were determined to make that happen.”

After approximately six months of round-the-clock care and supervision, the Bryants finally brought their children home.

A year later, Becca reports that the quadruplets are now joyful one-year-olds.

“I think this underlines the quality and level of care we provide at UAB,” Sanusi commented.

He added, “It really demonstrates the dedication of our team across all specialties in making such records possible, even if that wasn’t the initial goal.”

Koen and Lainey still depend on a nasal cannula, while Lennon uses a G-tube to aid his feeding, as highlighted in the release.

The family continues to visit the UAB Newborn Follow-Up Clinic and Children’s of Alabama to ensure their children’s healthy development.