TAFT, CA. - The holiday season just became four times as merry for a family in Taft.
This week, doctors at Bakersfield Memorial cleared a set of quadruplets to leave the NICU and go home.
We visited them all once the family settled in and talked to them about the blessings that doubled their size: Emma, Payton, Liam , and Elijah, also affectionately referred to as the Harp Quad Squad.
"They are a handful, but they are a blessing," said father Jared Harp.
Jared and wife Christina already had two kids, Kris and Sam, when they went to a fertility doctor to help them expand their family, never dreaming what that would mean.
"It was supposed to just give me one egg. Instead, it gave me four," said mother Christina Harp.
"The first ultrasound they said it looks like you have three," Jared said. Then the next ultra sound we went to said we had four, and then I didn't want to go back for another one."
At 29 weeks, Sept. 20, Christina delivered two girls and two boys -- all healthy, but tiny -- weighing about two and a half pounds each.
The babies stayed in the nicu for two months until they became strong enough to go home. That was Monday.
Everything is now four times the work for mom and dad.
"The last couple of nights I think we got two to three hours of sleep," Christina said.
The care is quadrupled, the pacifiers, the changings, the feedings -- and once one cycle ends, it starts all over again.
The doctor recommended formula costs $40 a day, and they go through an average 30 diapers daily.
"We've had two baby showers and people at work have given us diapers but they are going fast," Jared said.
Christina stays at home with the babies while Jared has returned to his job at a local ulitilty to keep up with the costs.
The family has received some donations and help from church members, family and friends.
Now, the Harps need to fine-tune a schedule so the expanded family can relax and count their blessings.