Newcastle mum shocked by news

Excited mum Adele Jelley, 24, who already has one daughter aged four, has just found out she is expecting quadruplets at odds of more than 700,000 to one.

Adele and her partner, dad-of-two Gary Gorman weren't even trying for a baby when she revealed she was pregnant for a second time.

But their surprise turned to panic when a scan detected four tiny heartbeats inside Adele’s womb.

The midwife then delivered the news that the stunned couple, of Walker, Newcastle, were expecting not just one child, but three boys and a girl.

Still coming to terms with the news, the couple, who already have a daughter, Mia, four, have been busy telling family and friends.

They have been told the pregnancy carries a high risk of complications, but so far all four babies are healthy and developing well.

All four, two identical boys, another boy and a girl, are due to be delivered by caesarean section in March, four weeks before their due date.

Gary and Adele, who are both unemployed, have begun to think about the practicalities of life with six children in their small terraced home.

Adele admitted she was struggling to imagine how they will cope.

She said: “We weren’t even trying for a baby so I was surprised just to find out I was pregnant. I was late getting my first scan because I didn’t realise I was pregnant at first and I missed my first scan at 12 weeks.

“So, my first one was at 17 weeks. The pregnancy had so far been exactly like when I had Mia. In the hospital, the midwife said to me ‘There’s more than one in there’.

"I said, ‘Oh, can you see two, like?’. She then said ‘No pet, there’s four.’ “I couldn’t believe it – I think I just looked at the screen and at her in shock. Then, I couldn’t really take it in and I got upset and told her to turn the screen off, I didn’t want to look at it any more.

“The midwife then told us there was identical boys, another boy and a girl and that they were all healthy. I was just stunned.

"My parents rang me but I couldn’t talk down the phone for crying. It still hasn’t sunk in.”

The couple were told the news when they went for the scan at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary last week and will now continue to go every two weeks to check there is no complications.

Multiple births do run down Gary’s side of the family as his dad was a twin.

“Having twins would be hard enough but quads?”, said Gary, 30, who has another daughter Laquita, two, from a previous relationship.

“Knowing what we know now, I would definitely say Adele looks bigger than she should for 17 weeks. She’s bigger than if she was just carrying one.

“We never thought anything of it, we just thought she was carrying one baby.

"We’ve always wanted a lad but I just assumed it would probably never happen – I didn’t expect to be getting three in one go!

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely over the moon, I can’t wait. I think Adele’s the one finding it harder.

"One of the nurses at the hospital kept a copy of the scan picture because she said in her 19-year career she had never seen such a clear scan picture of quads.

“I don’t really have a clue how we’re going to manage but we’ll get by. We’re going to need a bigger car and a bigger house and a bigger bank balance.”