First-Time Parents Have Rare Naturally Conceived Quadruplets
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A South Florida couple got the surprise of a lifetime when they learned their new bundle of joy would be times four.
Ivanna Cardenas Gutierrez, 27, and her husband David Gutierrez learned they were expecting in February, but an ultrasound revealed more than they expected.
"The doctor said we were having twins – and I was shocked," Gutierrez said in a press release by Jackson Health System. "Then he said there were three babies. Two minutes later, he said there was a fourth. I was speechless."
What makes the quadruplets so rare, is they were conceived naturally, an occurrence that happens in just 1 in 700,000 pregnancies.
The health system reported approximately 90 percent of quadruplets are conceived with the assistance of medical technology.
Dr. Salih Yasin, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies and the delivery of multiples was designated to care for Ivanna during the pregnancy.
On August 18, at a 27-week check-up, tests revealed one of the babies was in distress and in danger of dying. The doctor decided to deliver all four babies that day – well ahead of the November 15 due date.
The babies names are Julian, Sebastian, Gabriel and Francesca.
Julian was the largest at 2 pounds, 3 ounces.
Gabriel was smallest at 1 pound, 3 ounces.
The babies continue to grow and get stronger at the Schatzi Kassal Project: New Born Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Holtz Children's Hospital.
Francesca, the only girl, will be released within the next week.
"There have been a lot of ups and downs, but we have gotten through it," Ivanna said in the press release. "We know how blessed we are."
Wednesday, the family will speak at a press conference and provide pictures of the quadruplets.
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