“I’m shaky,” Leo says. “Kind of nervous.” Leo has good cause to be, as he holds the hand of his wife, Lorena, of 15 years. She is giving birth to quadruplets.
On September 28th, Harbor-UCLA and Harbor Pediatrics welcomed babies Melanie, Nomar, Lillian and Nathan into the world. It is indeed a laborious undertaking, seeing many teams at Harbor-UCLA coming together to ensure safe deliveries.
“The perinatology team has been planning for her delivery for two and a half months,” says Dr. Ramy Eskander who serves as medical director of inpatient OB/Gyn services here at Harbor-UCLA. “We take time to prepare and carefully organize the team, because the fact is that this is five teams at the same time. An OB team and four teams for each baby. It takes a significant amount of collaboration, making sure that we’re ready for the deliveries.”
On the neonatal side, four teams consisting of a Neonatologist, Residents, NICU Nurses, and Respiratory Therapists have been on call 24-7 for the last seven weeks. The preparation is evident as Harbor’s Neonatologists, Drs. Virender Rehan, Lynne Smith, Guadalupe Padilla and Soina Dargan, carefully quarterback their respective teams to be sure that everyone is ready. The quadruplets are the second set of quads in as many years to be delivered at Harbor-UCLA. The previous quadruplet delivery experience were especially informing for everyone involved.
Soon-to-be-father-of-five Leo knows about preparation. The initial ultrasound only revealed twins. They went back for a second check the following week and three were revealed. After being told to come back the following week, Leo sensed a pattern and prepared himself. “I said, ‘Oh man, there is going to be another one,’ and sure enough there were four.
Leo and his eight year old son had their birthdays the day before which means the family can look forward to big birthday bashes for years to come.
Leo and Lorena struggled with miscarriages before turning to in vitro fertilization. They were prepared for labor days ago but the babies were not quite ready. On the morning of labor, Leo was in Palm Springs when he got word that Lorena was having contractions. A few freeways later and he made it on time. Lorena came up with most of the names but he chose Nomar for one of his newborn sons, his grandfather’s name (Roman) spelled backwards.
“The planning and implementation of this complicated delivery was a wonderful demonstration of interdepartmental and interdisciplinary team work,” says Dr. Lynne Smith, Interim Chair of Pediatrics.
Dr. Quy Tran, Lead Anesthesiologist says it was a great privilege for the anesthesia team to be involved in the successful delivery of the quadruplets. “We enjoyed the collegiality and camaraderie among all team members. Truly, this was an example of inter-department teamwork at its finest in achieving a common goal.
Dr. Eskander credits Harbor-UCLA’s prenatal clinic greatly for their systemic preparation. “We identify patients during our routine weekly conferences,” he says. “High risk OB and High Risk Neonatal physicians identify babies and get a plan in place long before they even come to the hospital.”
Dr. Virender Rehan, Director of the Neonatal ICU says it was a delightful occasion where months of preparation of “quad watch” paid off. “I am extremely pleased with the way the fully prepared neonatal team welcomed them,” he says. “Though each one of them is getting some help with breathing, they are all expected to do well.”
This article has been updated.