Mom of Quadruplets Had Heart Failure Before Preemies Were Born. 'It Hit Me So Quick,' She Says

Yahoo

09-05-2025

During Jenny LeBrun's fourth pregnancy, she learned she was carrying quadruplets
At 28 weeks, LeBrun went into heart failure, and her babies were born 11 weeks early
"We're very busy, but very blessed," the now mom-of-seven tells PEOPLE
When Jenny LeBrun learned she was carrying quadruplets, the then-mom-of-three was surprised, but grateful that her pregnancy had progressed uneventfully. Then, when she reached 28 weeks, she went into heart failure.
'My heart was pumping for five people,' the former South Dakota middle school language arts teacher, 39, tells PEOPLE. 'It just couldn't keep up anymore.'
Thankfully, she was at the hospital for an appointment when she started coughing and couldn't catch her breath. 'The doctor said my lungs sounded like tissue paper moving around,' LeBrun remembers. 'My lungs were filling up with fluid.'
LeBrun went on immediate bedrest. Five days later, her sons, Cru, Levi and Grayson, and her daughter, Oakley, were born at 29 weeks in October 2022.
'It was really scary,' LeBrun says of the incident, which shocked her and her husband, Dusty. 'For me to have such a great pregnancy for 28 weeks and then, boom, it hit me so quick,' she says.
Now 2-and-a-half years old, the quadruplets are healthy and keep their family busy.
'We're thankful because we're not dealing with some of the health issues that we potentially could have been dealing with,' says Jenny of having preemie babies that were also multiples.
Jenny and Dusty's positive attitude helped them navigate the quadruplets and multiple health scares that occurred before and after the babies were born.
Married since 2013, the couple started trying for their fourth baby with the help of fertility drugs. Jenny didn't undergo any procedures and, upon learning she was pregnant, doctors saw no signs that she was carrying multiples. But when the mom had her first ultrasound, she learned there were four babies.
Dusty, who is a farmer in their hometown of Coleman, South Dakota, was working in the fields when Jenny went to the appointment. The two — who share son Jack, who is now 10, daughter Addy, 6, and son Hunter, 5 — were in disbelief at the news.
'He did not believe me. He thought I was pranking him,' says Jenny, who remembers telling her 40-year-old husband that they needed a bigger vehicle. 'It was kind of my first thought, which is just funny.'
Months later, her near-death experience scared them both. Jenny fully recovered and the babies, who were born 11 weeks early, had to stay in the NICU at Avera Health in Sioux Falls for two months.
The new parents thought the worst was over when they were discharged, but two weeks later, they returned to the hospital. Cru 'stopped breathing,' his mom says. The newborn was diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV, and had to be airlifted to Avera.
Not long after, his sister Oakley also came down with RSV. Jenny spent weeks around Christmas at the pediatric intensive care unit with her two babies before they recovered. 'The PICU stay completely caught us off guard,' she adds. 'We truly almost lost Cru and Oakley.'
The LeBruns found support in family, friends — even an anonymous family that bought them Christmas presents.
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More than two years later, the toddlers are happy and healthy.
Jack loves them, but also likes his own space, says Jenny. Hunter likes to play with his four youngest siblings, and Addy 'loves to take care of them.'
The help is appreciated. Jenny spends hours a week taking her youngest children to various therapy appointments to improve their mobility, speech and ability to eat. She laughs when they climb on top of countertops, the Jenny says.
'They've done a lot of physical therapy to be able to climb,' she says. 'We're very busy, but very blessed.'
Read the original article on People