by The Mom Dᴇꜰɪᴇs Oᴅᴅs And Gives Birth To Rare Set Quadruplets, She Share The Difficults Of Her Giving Birth
Katie Ferraro had already defied the odds, becoming pregnant with naturally ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴇᴅ quadruplets. She had ᴜɴᴅᴇʀɢᴏɴᴇ ɢᴇɴᴇᴛɪᴄ ᴛᴇsᴛɪɴɢ that showed all four babies appeared healthy.
Katie’s situation are either on bed rest or live in a special hospital unit. They were there to ensure all necessary resources could be mobilized to deliver Katie’s babies at a moment’s notice. Nurses and doctors from the hospital’s various units — Hɪɢʜ-Rɪsᴋ Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery, Sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ, Aɴᴇsᴛʜᴇsɪᴀ, Rᴇsᴘɪʀᴀᴛᴏʀʏ Tʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ, Mᴀᴛᴇʀɴᴀʟ Infant Services and Neonatal Intensive Care — gathered together, reviewing details to ensure the safest possible delivery.
The only thing the caregivers knew for sure was that the exact delivery day and time was unpredictable — so they needed to be prepared. With the holidays ᴀᴘᴘʀᴏᴀᴄʜɪɴɢ, it was especially critical to ensure on-call staff were at the ready and a notification plan was in place. The first step was ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪꜰʏɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴇᴀᴍs ɴᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ room (OR)
Each baby would have an advanced life support team to care for them immediately after delivery. Three of these teams would receive babies in a ʀᴇsᴜsᴄɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ᴀᴅᴊᴀᴄᴇɴᴛ to the OR. This room has all of the equipment necessary to warm the babies and help them ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜe if needed. Space limitations meant the fourth team would stay in the OR with one of the babies. The OR would need to be heated to 85 degrees and special infant warmers would be brought in to keep each baby’s body temperature up.
Multiple sᴜʀɢɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛᴇᴄʜɴɪᴄɪᴀɴs, ᴛʜᴇʀᴀᴘɪsᴛs and other staff members would be there, and the hospital’s Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) needed to be ready to admit four tiny ᴘᴀᴛɪᴇɴᴛs all at once. Then there was the issue of identifying which baby was which. In addition to numbered hats, the babies would each get color-coded umbilical clamps and ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀʟ tape so caregivers could keep them straight.
At 11:30 am, Katie underwent her scheduled C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ surrounded by a 20-person team. According to hospital staff, the plan was executed successfully and 24 minutes later, Charlie, Claire, Henry and Dillon were born — each healthy and born a minute apart.
The babies ᴍᴇᴀsᴜʀᴇᴅ between three and four pounds and were 15 to 18 inches long. Only two babies, Henry and Dillon, required ᴜᴍʙɪʟɪᴄᴀʟ ᴄᴀᴛʜᴇᴛᴇʀs, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴍᴏɴɪᴛᴏʀ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴘʀᴇssᴜʀᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟʟᴏᴡ ꜰʟᴜɪᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄɪɴᴇ to be given. All four babies were taken to the NICU, and Katie met her new bundles of joy a short time later. She was discharged from the hospital after four days. After some recovery, Katie reunited again with her babies in the NICU as they were ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜing on their own and strong enough to be held for the first time. With the help of technology, Katie’s family and friends nationwide were able to see the babies through password-protected cameras placed near each baby’s ʙᴇᴅsɪᴅᴇ for monitoring. The four babies were able to go home once their weight increases and body temperatures were maintained.
