Lying in bed with four newborns across your chest. This is motherhood in its purest, strongest, rawest form. It’s a reality we rarely see but one all mums know. Minus the whole ‘four babies at the same time’ thing.
Four of a kind
Dayna is a mum of four beautiful quadruplets- Willow, Willis, Otto and Simon. These little warriors were born premature and spent several weeks in the NICU before coming home to their mum, dad, and big brother.
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 1 quadruplets](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/7.jpg)
Dayna keeps the world updated on her children through Hello Quadruplets and there are so many amazing pics of her foursome, who are now cheeky toddlers!
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 2 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-5.jpg)
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 3 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2-5.jpg)
Matching PJs. Funny faces. Cheeky cuddles. Themed outfits. Honestly, your ovaries won’t be able to handle the cuteness!
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 4 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4-1.jpg)
Behind the scenes with quadruplets
But we especially love the candid pics, taken without the staging, the lighting and the matching outfits.
The ones that show what life was really like during those hazy newborn days when the quadruplets came home from the NICU.
Dayna explains that her husband was often away for work at that stage and she spent a lot of her time tending to the babies in bed.
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 5 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/tired-quad-mum.jpg)
As Dayna writes,
This one really shows the rawness of how crazy and messy the first few weeks with quadruplets is. I basically lived in bed with them back then while my husband was on the road for work. I lived off a couple of hours of sleep at night between them waking up and having to pump.
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 6 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/quad-mum-2.jpg)
I had my nightstand covered with everything I needed, my pump, milk containers, their bottles, formula, their reflux medicine, pacifiers and drinks and snacks for me.
I had the bed lined with Snuggle Me beds for when I needed to pump so they didn’t grab the cords. Most of the day this is where you would find me, snuggled up with four little babies.”
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 7 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/quad-mum-3.jpg)
There are a few more beautifully raw shots of life with four babies. The new parents relied on swaddles, slings and snuggle pods in the early days as they became a family of seven.
They also used two double prams to push their little ones in followed by a wagon as the kids got a bit older.
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 8 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/quad-mum-pram.jpg)
Dayna explains how she managed to exclusively pump for her babies for the first year of their lives, relying on multiple breast pumps and setting alarms throughout the day to pump.
For bathtime, the babies had baby baths but Dayna also used the regular bath. She had four matching baby baths as well as four matching ‘pottys’ for the toddlers to now use. Toilet training four tots at once. Good luck!!
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 9 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/quads-bath-.jpg)
They also relied on the help of the doting big brother to keep a watchful eye on his precious siblings. So sweet!
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 10 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/quads-with-brother.jpg)
We can imagine life with four newborns was a bit of a struggle but for Dayna, she loved it.
I actually miss those days, they went so fast. I feel like I was destined to be a quadruplet mom. Though it was tough, I have loved every minute of it.”
Spending the majority of her time in bed, snuggled up against snoozing newborns is a stark difference to how she spends her days now – chasing after four cheeky toddlers and an equally cheeky pre-schooler. Sure, life is hectic, but she wouldn’t have it any other way!
![The Reality of Having Newborn Quadruplets 11 mum central](https://mumcentral.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-5.jpg)