Quads Born Thanks to Alternative Technique
ORANGE — Baby green came first, a girl. Then Baby red, a boy. Baby orange, another boy, was born one minute later. Last--and biggest--came Baby gray, a 4-pound, 13-ounce girl.
The four Miner infants, delivered early Saturday morning, are the first quadruplets born in Orange County through a non-test tube fertility technique known as GIFT.
Most babies need a doctor and a nurse or two. But for the Miner babies, who were born eight weeks prematurely, there was a staff of about 35 on hand at UCIMedical Center to make sure that their delivery, by Cesarean section, went smoothly.
“It was such a gorgeous moment,” said Dr. Louis Gluck, director of neonatal medicine at the medical center. “All the planning paid off. There were no surprises.”
Three of the four babies are doing splendidly. Baby red, now known as Jeffrey--has a lung fluid problem and is on a respirator. He was listed in moderate to serious condition Sunday, but doctors said that his condition is not life-threatening and that it should improve over the next day.
Mother Karen Miner, 32, an Orange schoolteacher, was doing well. But she and her husband, Al Miner, 34, a management consultant, did not want to give any interviews until they are assured that Jeffrey’s condition has improved.
Al Miner did issue one statement, however: “I’m really excited; the babies look great.”
The others are Brianna (Baby green), 3 pounds, 7 ounces; Vincent (Baby orange), 4 pounds, 5 ounces; and Whitney (Baby gray).
The color-coded names were assigned during gestation so that the Miners and the medical staff could prepare for their births.
Dr. Manuel Porto, director of maternal-fetal medicine at UC Irvine, and Gluck assigned medical teams to each baby by color. Each team was composed of an obstetrician, a resident doctor, a nurse and a respiratory therapist and other support specialists. The babies’ charts, bracelets, Isolettes and other equipment were all color-coded to avoid any confusion.
“We did dress rehearsal runs earlier to make sure we had our system ready,” said Porto, who delivered the quadruplets. “We wanted to be a well-oiled machine when the time came.”
Brianna was born first. Porto handed her to Gluck, who in turn handed her to the green team, which was on standby in a specially prepared second delivery room. Then the red team took Jeffrey and eventually placed him on a respirator. The other teams took their babies to their sections of the special room and monitored.
“The parents were very excited,” Porto said. “The delivery was picture perfect. We kept giving the mother progress reports. We had to keep her pretty much on her side the whole time to make sure she did not damage a blood vessel. She was carrying 17 pounds of babies.”
For four years, the Miners had wondered whether they would have any children at all.
Eventually, they were referred to Dr. Jack Werlin, fertility services director at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. Werlin is a specialist in the GIFT (gamete intra-Fallopian transfer) fertility technique, which involves placing sperm and eggs in the mother’s Fallopian tubes.
“GIFT is the method which is the closest to the way conception naturally takes place,” Werlin said.
In the Miners’ case, Werlin placed four eggs in the hope that one would take. Sometimes using four eggs can result in multiple birth--in fact, that happens about 24% of the time, Werlin said.
“About half of that time it’s twins, and about half of that time it’s triplets; but we have never had quadruplets,” Werlin said.
About 12 days after the GIFT technique was performed, Werlin said, the Miners were elated to learn that Karen Miner was pregnant. About 10 days later, an ultrasound test indicated that she was carrying triplets. The fourth fetus was detected in a follow-up test performed about two weeks later.
“The Miners were concerned but excited,” Werlin said. “Karen Miner is an incredible optimist. She is just a superb lady. We were all very happy for her.”
Werlin transferred the responsibility for Karen Miner’s prenatal care to Porto and UCI Medical Center, which specializes in high-risk pregnancies and neonatology, the medical field concerned with the treatment of sick newborns.
Quadruplets occur in about one normal pregnancy in 500,000, according to UCI doctors. Porto said that to the knowledge of his staff, the Miners are only the second couple in California to bear quadruplets through the GIFT technique.
Karen Miner was hospitalized on Dec. 19 as a precaution, hospital spokeswomen said. In the 27th week of pregnancy, she received steroids to accelerate the development of the fetuses’ lungs, and she was given other medications to control uterine contractions.
“The closer we could get to full term, the better off we were,” Porto said. “We were very fortunate that she carried the babies to the 32nd week.”
According to the hospital, the babies were each born one minute apart, beginning at 2:36 a.m. Saturday.
Brianna, the only one to weigh in under four pounds, has turned out to be one of the healthiest.
“She had a lot of spirit,” Porto said.
Jeffrey’s problems stem from an unclosed fetal blood vessel. As a result, fluid collected in his lungs, causing a carbon dioxide imbalance. He was placed on a vibrating respirator so that doctors can gently extract the gases from the lung to avoid a rupture.
His condition was first listed as minor to moderate, but that was later changed to moderate to serious. The red team was still on duty Sunday, monitoring his condition.
