THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 22, 1996 TAG: 9601220051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Angela Jones quickly rewrapped a package of steamed shrimp and moved slowly to return it to a small refrigerator in her room at Riverside Regional Medical Center.
Patting her bulging belly, smiling and rolling her eyes, Angela, 26, admitted: ``I've been eating like a wild woman!''
That's understandable. The Carrollton woman, who on Friday celebrated her 28th week of pregnancy, is eating for five - counting four little bundles that showed up on an ultrasound in mid-September.
When she got the news, she couldn't wait to tell husband Darin in person, so she telephoned. His response: ``Oh, my God, Angela! What's wrong with you?''
Darin Jones, 27, has adjusted. He's picked out names for the four boys - in honor of her father, his father, a grandfather and an uncle.
Quadruplets happen naturally only about once in every 600,000 births, said Angela's doctor, Dr. Sue Kelly Sayegh. They would be the first in Riverside's 75-year history and in the doctor's 16-year career.
``We'd figured - somewhere down the line, twins, maybe,'' Darin Jones said as he sat in the hospital room to which his wife has been confined since Dec. 26. ``But four? There's no way to prepare. How do you even think about how many diapers you're gonna need?''
The Joneses, who live in a two-bedroom mobile home in Jones Creek Landing in northern Isle of Wight County, have a 4-year-old daughter.
The quadruplets were conceived without the aid of fertility drugs. In fact, the couple shares a family history of multiple births. There are eight sets of twins in Angela's extended family. Darin has twin brothers, and there are two other sets of twins in his family.
Adding to their family just now was unplanned. Darin, a former Food Lion manager, started a house-cleaning and carpet-cleaning business a couple of years ago. And Angela, just two semesters shy of her degree in elementary education at Christopher Newport University, had been helping the business with book work and appointments.
A home pregnancy test had confirmed that Angela was about to be a mom again. In early September, she went to the emergency room complaining of stomach pains. That first sign that her pregnancy was out of the ordinary passed without incident, and since then it has progressed normally.
``She has beat all of the odds so far,'' said Dr. Sayegh, smiling like a proud relative. ``This is starting to get real exciting.''
The babies were at risk until about the 28th week, a milestone that passed Friday. After that, Sayegh said, they have a better than 90 percent chance of survival.
The doctor hopes to delay the birth until at least 32 weeks, then reassess the situation. ``The closer we can get to 34 weeks, the better their chances will be,'' she said.
Under normal circumstances, the infants would have been due in early April, at about 40 weeks.
Angela Jones has gained about 40 pounds, and the babies are growing at the proper rate, even for a single birth, Sayegh said. ``They all look really good in there,'' she said.
And father-to-be chimed in, ``1 pound 9 ounces; 1 pound 10 ounces; 1 pound 12 ounces; 1 pound 13 ounces.''
At last check, on Friday, all had passed the 2-pound mark.
So far, bed rest has worked for Angela. She's needed no drugs, which are commonly used to ward off premature labor in multiple births.
The Joneses said they had done little to prepare for the boys' arrival until the doctor gave them the go-ahead. Now, the situation seems almost overwhelming.
``The only thing I have left from our daughter is the one crib,'' she said.
``Space. We need space,'' her husband said. ``Where are we going to put them? There's no way to prepare.'' MEMO: Riverside Regional Medical Center is coordinating a campaign to help the
young couple prepare for the birth and care of the four babies. For more
information, call Bud Ramey in the public relations department at
594-2194.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
JOHN H. SHEALLY II
The Virginian-Pilot
Angela Jones and her husband, Darin, both have a family history of
twins.
SURPRISE! ULTRASOUND REVEALS 4 BOYS
KEYWORDS: MULTIPLE BIRTHS by CNB