A fifth sextuplet going home

Now 7 pounds, the Byler baby is ableto join his siblings.

By LISA BUIE, Times Staff Writer
Published November 10, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Ryan Patrick Byler, who was listed in critical condition the day after his birth, is set to join his four siblings at home today, leaving one sextuplet in the hospital.

Babies must weigh at least 4 pounds, and be able to feed and breathe on their own to be released. Ryan, who weighed about 3 pounds at birth, now weighs about 7 pounds, said his father, Ben Byler.

Byler said Ryan was doing well. His release will leave only his brother, Charlie Craig, still at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. A few weeks ago, Charlie was downgraded from fair to serious condition after he needed help with his breathing. This week his condition was upgraded to fair.

Ben said he expects Charlie to be coming home in the next few weeks. That could put all the babies - five boys and a girl - home for Thanksgiving. Ben said the babies passed their eye exams, and the ones at home are due to be visited by pediatricians today. Ben said taking care of four of the babies at home was easier than he expected.

"The biggest challenge is sleep," he said, adding that he and his wife tend to the babies in shifts.

Ben, 30, and his wife, Karoline, 29, made history on Sept. 1 when they became parents to Brady Christopher, Eli Benjamin, Ryan Patrick, Jackson Robert, Charlie Craig and MacKenzie Margaret. The babies, Florida's first surviving sextuplets, were delivered by caesarean section at Bayfront Medical Center. Karoline was just short of 30 weeks' gestation; normal gestation is 40 weeks. The Bylers also have a 4-year-old daughter Zoe.

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

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 22:38:13]