Posted on 10/13/2004 6:27:23 PM PDT by Mike Fieschko
AURORA — Sgt. Joshua M. Horton, recuperating in a hospital in Maryland after being wounded in combat in Iraq, still doesn't know his wife has given birth to five tiny babies.Horton's mother, Lauchlan, and two sisters are on their way to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland to tell Horton he is the father of three girls and two boys, who are in critical but stable condition at Edward Hospital in Naperville.
Doctors did not tell Horton the news because he was too sedated from medications, and it was the family's wish to tell him themselves, Maj. Rick Coates, a member of Horton's unit and spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Chicago office, said Tuesday.
Horton, a 28-year-old Aurora police officer, is in stable condition in the intensive care unit after the right side of his torso and his right leg were wounded severely last Thursday in a mortar attack in Babil Province, just south of Baghdad.
Medical staff is hopeful that Horton will be conscious and responsive today, Coates said.
The sergeant, serving with the 2nd battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, was transported to the Maryland hospital from Germany Monday, the same day his wife Taunacy gave birth to the quints.
"Some people are saying the Lord works in mysterious ways," Coates said.
Horton decided to serve in Iraq although he knew his wife was pregnant with quintuplets and had the option of deferring. He said he wanted to take the place of other soldiers who hadn't been able to see their families.
Met at Bethesda Horton and his wife actually met at Bethesda Naval Hospital several years ago, when Taunacy was working as a corpsman in the Navy and Josh was a Marine at the naval base there. The couple, who live in Oswego and have been married for eight years, had their oldest son, Sean, 7, at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. They also have a 5-year-old daughter, Shaleigh. Taunacy has tentative names for all the babies but wants to discuss them with her husband before releasing them, said Deborah Linton, public relations specialist at Edward. One baby probably will be named after their grandmother, Lauchlan. Two of the quintuplets — a boy and a girl — are breathing through a ventilator, and the other three have been breathing on their own since shortly after birth, Edward officials said. Taunacy was notified of her husband's injury Friday, just days before she gave birth to the quints. It is possible the stress related to that news may have contributed to her delivering the babies at 26 weeks of gestation rather than 30 weeks, which was the time frame for which doctors were shooting.
Problems with prematurity "Any emotional upset can . . . allow progress" in the birthing process, said Dr. Usha Vasan, a neonatologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
However, multiple pregnancies often end with premature delivery, and it could have been caused by many factors, Vasan said.
The first week of life is critical period for the babies, as complications are most common during that time, Vasan said.
"These babies are very fragile, and their lungs are not fully developed," she said. ". . . They look like real babies, but all their organ systems are immature."
Most nurseries have a 60 to 85 percent survival rate for single babies who are born at 26 weeks; it is difficult to determine the survival rate for quintuplets born at that stage, she said.
Generally, babies born that premature have problems maintaining blood pressure, glucose levels and fluid balance. They often need to be put on a respirator because their respiratory control is not mature enough to tell the baby to breathe, Vasan said.
Preemies also usually need to be fed through intravenous tubes because their intestines are too small. The immaturity of their immune system also makes it harder for them to fight off infection early in life.
A common complication for preemies occurs when a blood vessel that diverts blood away from the baby's lungs while in the womb does not close after birth. In about half those cases, the channel remains open and the lungs get flooded with more blood than necessary, Vasan said.
"If these hurdles are crossed, they can assure those babies are going to live and do a little better," Vasan said.
Although Edward Hospital officials could not estimate when the quints would be released, Vasan said premature babies are usually released around the time of the mother's due date — or when the mother would have been between 36 to 38 weeks of gestation.
Monetary donations for the family can be sent to: The Horton Five, c/o Harris Bank, P.O. Box 6201, Carol Stream, IL 60197-6201, or in person at any Harris Bank. Anyone with in-kind donations is asked to contact the office of Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn at (312) 814-5220.
bttt
Best for the babies. I have seen firsthand the wonders a quality NICU can do-- they will be fine, I am sure.The fact that so many are breathing on their own is a very good sign!
Hope for a full recovery for Dad, too. They will need all the help they can get.
Wow! Best wishes to the family and prayers for father and the babies!
Prayers out to him and all his family.........and friends....
Ping
He truly is a lucky man. He survives in Iraq and now has five new babies.
Prayers are needed for this family.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.