DEAR MAE JULIAN,
I will share a FIRST hand account of the quintuplets born Oct 28th at Norton’s Suburban Hospital in Louisville:
An air of expectation, concern and excitement hung in the air every day after Stephanie Powell was admitted to the hospital on Labor Day. She is a Nurse Practitioner and well known to the nurses who work the level 3 nursery. Now, if Stephanie had been about 5′ 6″ or so, it might not have caused such concern, but little Stephanie only stands 5 foot tall. Stephanie, and Steve, her husband, had been married for 3 years and they both felt they should have a child before Stephanie turned 30. They were both stunned when the first ultrasound at 5 weeks revealed that Stephanie was carrying quintuplets. Stephanie remembers saying, “Oh! My goodness!” Well, that may have been an understatement. The best and the brightest in the medical field were consulted. Stephanie and Steve were advised on the historically poor chances of carrying five normal babies to delivery. They both prayed and asked for guidance from their pastor at Southeast Christian Church. They attended the Billy Graham Crusade and made up their minds. All babies would be carried. They relied on God’s will and proceeded forward. Stephanie says she was as wide as she was tall at the time delivery was to take place.
God bless all the professionals who took part in this incredible event. Teams were assigned alphabetically so that no confusion could occur. “Team One” took “Baby A” and so forth. All equipment was prepared for every baby with the letter assigned to it. One of the neonatologists said at the press conference that she had never seen a smoother delivery. The babies weighed around two pounds or slightly above. All were healthy. Stephanie was awake during the entire delivery, which was done by C-Section. When they heard the first baby cry, a cheer and clapping broke out by the entire staff, many of whom were watching outside the delivery door. This exuberance was the same as each healthy baby was born.
Prior to the delivery, one of the nurses made a sign that said: QUINTENSIVE CARE UNIT, which was taped on the window of the door to their special room. There is no lack of inventiveness on the part of nurses! I want to give tribute to each of these nurses who set up the entire Quintensive Care Unit with everything from the ventilators to the diapers. It is my hope that everyone who reads this article thinking that nurses just carry bedpans and dispense medications will gain a new respect for these highly skilled nurses who delivered and will daily care for these tiny infants who were born almost as fast as the Kentucky Derby is run. The fastest two minutes in sports is now competing with the fastest two minutes in delivery of quints!
Congratulations to Stephanie and Steve, who kept faith that their babies were in God’s hands, cheers to every member of the team who delivered the babies, and blessings to each nurse who cares for these tiniest of God’s children.
Oh…. just a footnote…almost every professional person in the delivery room was female (5 Neonatologists, 3 OB-GYN doctors, 7 nurses, 5 respiratory therapists, and 5 OB-GYN Technicians). Only two of the OB-GYN doctors were male. Can we cheer for the gals??? All kidding aside, all did a superb job, and the male docs were good sports!!!
GOD BLESS OUR NURSES!
Mae Julian
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