Country is hard, we need help to raise our newborn quadruplets –Enugu-based couple

An Enugu-based businessman, Mr Frankline Awuzie, 36, and his wife, Mary, 28, a civil servant, on Monday, October 18, 2021 welcomed a set of quadruplets. They share their joy and concern in these interviews with GODFREY GEORGE

What is your name?

My name is Frankline Awuzie. I am from Umuaka Town, Ijiaba Local Government Area of Imo State. I reside in Enugu. This was where I graduated from. I also met and married my wife here. She is from Enugu, too. I will be 36 years old on November 8. I am into transportation. I do all manner of legitimate businesses.

You recently took to your Facebook wall to celebrate the birth of a set of quadruplets added to your family on Monday. How does it make you feel being a father to these babies?

I feel so happy. I cannot even contain my joy. They just came out – two boys and two girls. Before then, I had three children – all girls.

Were they triplets?

No, they were not. They came singly. My first girl is seven years old; the other two are six and four years old. These ones now came in a set of four (laughs). I am very excited. I’d never know what I did to be blessed by God in such a manner. This is nothing short of a miracle. My babies are healthy; my wife is also fine. It can only be God.

Were you expecting four babies at once?

(Sighs) When we went for the scan, the doctors were not sure of the exact number of the babies. The first scan said it would be two babies. Much later, we got to check and found out it was three. Later on, they said it looked like one of the babies was hiding behind another, but they were not sure. This was around 29 weeks. That one was not visible till after the delivery.

What was the experience like when she was pregnant?

I would be honest with you, it was not easy for me at all. It was as if I was also pregnant (laughs). It was not easy for me and the entire family. You know we had three kids who were not even grown up enough to take care of themselves. If you are spending N100 on a particular medication, it would be two times that amount for two children. We are just grateful to God for bringing us thus far.

Were you there with her on the day she was delivered of the babies?

We didn’t know she was going to give birth at the time she did. My wife was complaining bitterly of waist pain because of the weight of the babies. She was no longer moving around. She could not turn her body when she slept. It was hard, because I saw her struggling. So, we visited the hospital to seek a solution on how she would be able to, at least, move around. When we came to the hospital, the doctors checked her and recommended that we do a caesarean section because the weight of one baby may affect the others as her stomach was not large enough to accommodate them all.

Were you in the theatre with her?

Ah! No, I wasn’t. I couldn’t stand seeing her in pain. I tried to help, but there was very little I could do at the moment. When the nurses called me into the theatre to see my wife and my babies as they were cleaning her up, I was in awe. It was like an abattoir. My love for her increased a million notches higher. Women are God’s gift to men! I ran away (laughs). The nurses were begging me to come inside, but I couldn’t. It is an experience I can never forget.

Do you have any fears on how to take care of them?

I cannot say how I feel. You know I wasn’t expecting four babies. The scans were not sure. I have fears. The country is already hard; the economy is not smiling at anybody. We had three children before and it wasn’t like we had all we needed. With this addition, Nna, I don’t know how to even begin, but I am still grateful to God, and I know that God that brought these kids to this world would not let them suffer.