The four the merrier: It's quadruplets
Dror, the identical twin of older brother Dávid
Sept. 19 was a very special day for Luz Maria Marmolejo and Yehonatan Tzairi. Early that morning the San Mateo couple and their 9-year-old son welcomed an additional four members into their family: three boys and one girl.
Born by cesarean section at 27 weeks gestation at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, the babies are small but relatively healthy. They ranged in weight from 2.2 to 2.6 pounds and will remain under the care of the hospital's intensive care team for several weeks to receive specialized treatment for the growth and development issues that can affect very early preemies.
Quadruplets aren't unheard of at the children's hospital, but Marmolejo's delivery marked what is believed to be the first time the hospital's doctors tended to a set conceived without the aid of assisted reproductive technology. The odds of such an occurrence are estimated to be about one in 600,000—on par with your chances of being dealt a royal flush on your opening poker hand. Even more extraordinary, two of the four babies are identical, an improbability approaching one-in-a-million, according to perinatologist James Smith, MD.
Smith and Jane Chueh, MD, cared for Marmolejo during her pregnancy. Hospital obstetrician Jeffrey Faig, MD, delivered first Dávid, then girl Kamilla, followed by the identical twins Roni and Dror.
The 39-year-old Marmolejo learned in May that she was hosting 40 toes and fingers, rather than the usual 10. Now the parents say they feel blessed, excited and overwhelmed. It's easy to see why. —Krista Conger
