They waited on the Lord for eight years for children. They fasted and prayed and travelled far and wide in search of medical solution.When they had almost lost hope, God answered their prayers. Instead of one that they were praying for, He gave them four. Two months after the quadruplets’ delivery, Mr and Mrs Olusola Ololade from Ogun State are crying out for help. Why? EVELYN OSAGIE writes on their plight.
For eight years, they waited on God for a child. When He finally answered them, it was in a big way. He gave them quadruplets. Coping with these bundles of joy has not been easy for Mr and Mrs Olusola Ololade.
It was Pemisire that cried first. Before his father could rush to carry him to prevent him from waking up his three other siblings, Ifeoluwa responded with a loud cry. While their mother was rushing to calm her down, Semilore, their brother, also woke up.
Left with no other choice, this reporter reached out and carried him, feeling bad that she had disturbed their morning routine.
“We are lucky Anuoluwa is still asleep. This is how we’d go on and on today,” Ololade, 42, said as he rocked Pemisire to sleep.”
“Once one starts crying, others would follow; that is why you see us rushing to pacify the one who starts crying first. Still, one or two would have woken up by then,” Mrs Ololade added as she patted Ifeoluwa to sleep.
The babies ate and slept and some minutes later, the scene was replayed again, but this time, Anuoluwa woke up first.
It was the drama that played out when this reporter visited the Ololades. The babies, two boys and two girls born on the same day, were their first after eight years of marriage. Ifeoluwa (a girl) was born first, followed by Pemisire (a boy). Anuoluwa (a girl) was the third and her brother, Semilore, the fourth.
The couple, both Community Health Extension Workers (CHEW) under the Local Service Commission with over 10 years of experience, said they tried for eight years diverse approach to have children to no avail.The husband works at Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area (LGA) of Ogun State. His wife, Adesola, works with Ikenne LGA.
“We met at the Ogun State College of Health Technology as students. After our marriage on March 10, 2007, we had agreed to have four kids, but we never thought that we would wait eight long years to have them all at once. We went through a lot, tried medical and spiritual means. Everybody around us seemed worried and had advice of medications and places to take us to. I got tired of it,” Mrs Ololade recounted the ordeal during the eight years of childlessness as he fed Anuoluwa.
“It is sad the pressure couples whose marriages do not produce children early go through. My husband would often tell me not to worry; especially each time our efforts failed or neighbours and family members come with a would-be solution. But when I was alone, I was worried and sad. I thought a lot about our situation and prayed earnestly for a child. We went to crusades and camps to pray, sought traditional, Islamic and church counselling. I got tired of taking the herbs,” Mrs Ololade, who took Semilore, also called Temiotan, from the reporter after putting his brother to sleep, added. The emotion in her voice may have reached her as Anuoluwa began crying.
“You have not seen anything yet,”Mr Ololade said, dropping her sister, Ifeoluwa, first by her side as he reached for her.
Was there any medical diagnosis that certified you barren, the reporter asked?
“No. There was none. Like my wife, I also worried and even had high blood pressure. By second and third year, when the pressure began to mount, I was even given the advice to take on another wife, but never allowed the thought to cross my mind twice. I knew we were not God; since we were medically sound, only He alone knows best. I made a promise to myself that even if I do not have a child in this life that I would not stop serving God and humanity.
“As health workers, my wife and I ensure that people in the rural communities are taken care of – medically. We even go out of our way to visit patients in the remote areas who have stopped coming to the health centres for their treatment. So, I gave myself more to my work,” the quadruplets’ father answered
“So how and when did this miracle occur; did you go for in vitro fertilisation (IVF),” asked the reporter?
Mr Ololade said: “No, we didn’t do IVF. It was natural – God’s own way. By 2014, both of us decided we would stop seeking counselling in diverse places as advised; but focused only on medical approach. We were determined to go all the way, medically, as we prayed. We kept taking our medications and last year, my wife got pregnant. I did the first pregnancy test myself and you can’t imagine the joy we felt. While we were expecting just one, God gave us four instead. I prayed for my wife and children safe delivery. We were advised that considering the number of babies to be expected, it would be safe to register for ante-natal treatment at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, where the doctors prepared our minds that only two or three may survive. They were delivered on November 6, 2015 and my wife barely survived.”
He, however, lamented that these past two months it has not been easy. “We knew the implication of their birth is capital intensive since whatever we buy must be in fourfold. But nothing prepared us for what we, especially what my wife, have faced in terms caring for them.”
To affirm their parent’s words, Semilore turns round and wakes Pemisire who responded with a cry while Mrs Ololade reacted quickly, raising him up and covering his mouth with her breast. The scene repeated itself several times before the end of her session with the couple.
“It is like this every day. Its 24 hours caring for the children. I don’t know when the day starts or ends,” the excited mother of four said.
“I barely have time for myself. Once one starts crying at midnight, others would follow. It is as if they are in a choir. And it would take three to four hours to put them to sleep. If not that my mother and sisters come to assist me with carrying them at the night; and their children to assist in the day, I would have broken down. My breast milk is never enough for them (laughs); they consume one can of baby milk per day.
“Now that my nieces and nephews have gone back to school and the Yuletide is over, we now have limited hands to assist. My husband doesn’t live here in Sagamu, but in Isara Remo. This is my family’s house; I came here due proximity to the hospital and poor health after delivery – I went through two caesarean sections. I gave birth to my children through caesarean section at OOUTH, days after I felt severe pain and was rushed back. They found water had accumulated in a section of my womb and had to operate. I stayed there for a month. When I was discharged, we thought that I should stay here so they can take good care of me and help me with the kids since our place of abode is far from here. With all that is happening, I’m afraid I may not be able to return to work. I intend to focus on caring for my children, especially in their formative years,” Mrs Ololade observed.
But her decision is not without its price, which is particularly financially related. Hence, the couple is seeking help from well-meaning Nigerians. “We don’t want to lose any of our children because we went through a lot to have them. We are happy and grateful to God for their delivery, but we need all the support we can get. We are seeking the help of Nigerians in taking care of the children. We would have called for help earlier but couldn’t go public at the initial stage when the children were born because my wife was re-admitted at the hospital for about a month. She is well now that is why we decided to make the birth of the children public.”
BY EVELYN OSAGIE
