Babies Aplenty
By Heidi Perez
SouthFlorida.com
South Florida parents describe life before and after multiples.
The Medina family story is one of perseverance. After six years of trying to have children, Julio and Marlene Medina finally gave birth to quadruplets at Jackson Memorial Hospital. I caught up with Julio to find out how the couple adjusted to life since their prolific delivery.
"Adjusting? Well… We have not slept. But as soon as I look at my babies, everything else melts away. They are in perfect health, and they're getting bigger every day."
Julio and Marlene met on the beach while Marlene was in Florida on vacation. Julio is a Cuban auto mechanic, and Marlene was formerly a real estate coordinator from Paraguay. They always knew that they wanted to have children. After four in vitro fertilizations, they were finally blessed -- in a very big way.
Julio described their moment of realization.
"The blood tests had already indicated it was multiples, so when we went to the doctor, I was scared it was going to be six or eight," he said. "When the nurse and ultrasound technician saw that it was four babies, they almost fainted. But my wife and I were thrilled. After going for so many treatments that had failed, we were just so ecstatic. In fact, we were actually laughing."
Dr. Victor Gonzalez-Quintero, a specialist in high-risk pregnancies at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center, worked closely with the Medinas.
"They were very compliant and did everything they were supposed to do, never complaining," he said. "They didn't want to hear about reduction. They counted each baby as a blessing."
After a 32-week high-risk pregnancy, Marlene gave birth to two girls and two boys, Anahi, Tatiana, Diego and Julio, each weighing about three pounds. Gonzalez-Quintero delivered the babies on May 1 at Jackson Memorial Medical Center. The quads were immediately taken to Holtz Children's Hospital's Project: New Born Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for special care, which is adjacent to the women's hospital.
Dr. Dora Fernandez, a specialist in pediatric neonatology, cared for the quadruplets after they were born.
"Mom was always here, always pumping," Fernandez said. "Once the babies gained weight, she was putting them on the breast, breast-feeding all four. I think that was important. She also had a good sense of humor, which was also helpful."
Karen Chen is a nurse in the NICU.
"If you ask any NICU nurse, the attitude of the family is extremely important to the care of he baby," she said. "[The Medinas] were open to the treatment and care that the babies received and asked a lot of questions. They were very willing to cooperate, which is why I think the babies did as well as they did."
After just one month of NICU, the babies were released to the parents. By that time, they weighed more than four and a half pounds each. But with Julio needing to return to work, Marlene was left to figure it out on her own.
"The hardest part is not being able to give your sole attention and love to one child at a time," Julio said. "That is very difficult, especially when all four are crying. And because they are all the same age, there is no way for one kid to help the other. Coming from a small family, where my sister and I had 14 years between us, this was something I hadn't considered."
Julio's demeanor throughout our discussion was friendly, easygoing and accommodating. Despite the lack of sleep, he remains incredibly grateful for their new family.
"We tried everything that there was to try," he said. "We did it all. At the end it all paid off. It just goes to show that you can never lose hope."
With a newborn baby going through about eight to 10 diapers a day, the Medina family can plan to change more than 13,000 diapers in the first year alone. Babies also require about six bottles a day, bringing the Medinas in at more than 8,000 bottles in the first year. But for now, they seem to be focused on taking it one diaper at a time.
When I asked if he could see the light at the end of the tunnel at this point, he said he expected to see it in about 20 years. I informed him that it was probably more like 25 but not to worry.