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Early joy for babies dissolves into worry

Two of the Wesley Chapel sextuplets are in critical condition; two are in serious condition.

By LISA BUIE, Times Staff Writer
Published September 3, 2007

Ben Byler, father of the newly born sextuplets, shows off his arm bands, one for each baby, during a news conference at Bayfront Medical Center. Watch the video
	[Times photo: John Pendygraft]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: John Pendygraft] Zoe Byler, 4, played the game Duck Duck Goose in the hospital hallway while wearing a shirt that said "I'm the big sister."

Two of the Byler sextuplets -- Ryan Patrick and Jackson Robert -- were in critical condition Sunday night, according to All Children's Hospital spokeswoman Cindy Rose.

Two more -- Charlie Craig and MacKenzie Margaret -- were reported in serious condition. Brady Christopher and Eli Benjamin were stable.

The babies' conditions were reported after an upbeat morning news conference at the hospital, in which the children's father, Ben, 30, asked for prayer.

"Thanks to the Lord above, if everyone could just keep us in their prayers, that would be great," he said.

All during Karoline Byler's pregnancy, the Wesley Chapel family made similar requests.

On Saturday night, just before the caesarean section that produced Florida's first sextuplets, 35 members of the medical team gathered around her bed, joined hands and prayed.

For Dr. Karen Raimer, it was the most memorable part of the experience. "It was very comforting to me," said Raimer, who described herself as Christian.

Minutes later, Raimer took each baby from the womb one by one. When she removed the last one, lone girl MacKenzie Margaret, she let out a yell.

"I said hallelujah; thank you, Jesus," the obstetrician recalled.

- - -

The sextuplets, who were born between 9 and 9:03 p.m. at Bayfront Medical Center, now have names: Brady Christopher, Eli Benjamin, Ryan Patrick, Jackson Robert, Charlie Craig and MacKenzie Margaret.

Because of the number, Ben had to read them from a cheat sheet. The middle names are for relatives or friends. Christopher is for Karoline's brother. Ben is named for his dad. Patrick is a best friend's son's name. Robert and Craig were for late uncles. Margaret is for Karoline's late grandmother.

They join big sister, Zoe, 4, who Sunday played the game Duck Duck Goose in the hospital hallway while wearing a red shirt that said "I'm the big sister."

The Bylers conceived sextuplets after turning to infertility treatments. Karoline Byler has polycystic ovarian syndrome, which makes conception difficult. The Bylers, who are Roman Catholic, rejected doctors' suggestions that they remove a couple of the fetuses in hopes of improving the odds for the remaining ones.

Doctors said they don't know when the children will come home. They were born just before 30 weeks of gestation. Had they gone full term, they would have been due in November.

Ryan Patrick "is not doing that well," said Dr. Roberto Sosa, chief of neonatology at All Children's Hospital. The babies are in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

"The doctors and nurses are trying to get him stable at this point," he said.

Sosa didn't elaborate on Ryan's condition, except to call him "a little unstable," but Karoline's mother, Patty Kiewra, described it as a breathing problem.

A multiple birth can be a very risky venture for both mother and children. Brianna Morrison gave birth to a set in Minneapolis on June 10 at 22 weeks gestation; only one survived. Jenny Masche of Lake Havasu, Ariz., had heart failure immediately after the delivery of her sextuplets, also in June. However, she recovered, and at 30 weeks gestation, her children survived.

"Their brains and lungs are still developing," Sosa said of the Byler babies. "We're just trying to do what Mother Nature will do."

Doctors say Karoline, 29, is doing "exceptionally well."

"She's doing great," Raimer said. "She's very healthy."

Raimer said MacKenzie came out head first; the boys came out breach.

"They wanted to go walking," she said.

Grandmother Kiewra, who was out on the town at The Villages, raced with her husband to the hospital, after hearing Karoline's water had broken.

Before the delivery, she offered encouragement to her nervous daughter, who had never had surgery.

"I said I knew everything was going to turn out fine and for her to take it easy," she said.

She made it with a minute or two to spare. She remembers her first glimpse of Brady Christopher, the first delivered, as he was wheeled down the hall in a tiny incubator.

"He was beautifully formed," she said.

Lisa Buie can be reached at buie@sptimes.com or 813 909-4604.

Sextuplets by the numbers

Here's what each Byler baby weighed:

Brady Christopher: 2 pounds, 8 ounces

Eli Benjamin: 3 pounds

Ryan Patrick: 3 pounds (but a fraction less than Eli)

Jackson Robert: 2 pounds, 10 ounces

Charlie Craig: 2 pounds, 5 ounces

MacKenzie Margaret: 2 pounds, 9 ounces

Source: All Children's Hospital

[Last modified September 3, 2007, 00:14:41]