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Oh Baby! Quintuplets Born to Wake Forest Couple

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CHAPEL HILL — A Wake Forest couple's life will never be the same. Kent and Nancy Miller, both 38, are the proud parents of quintuplets.

The babies, four girls and a boy, were delivered by caesarean section early Tuesday morning atUNC Hospitals.

Born 10 weeks and one day early, babies A, B, C, D, and E ranged from 2 pounds, 9 ounces to 1 pound, 15 and a half ounces in weight. The Millers had hoped the children would hold out another three weeks, until Nancy reached 32 weeks. When her blood pressure escalated dangerously, doctors decided it was time to deliver.

Dr. Valerie Parisi and Dr. Nancy Chescheir helped deliver the five babies along with a team of highly trained nurses, neonatalogists and pediatricians.

While it was exciting, Dr. Chescheir says delivering five babies was quite a challenge.

"The first 12 to 24 hours with sick newborns or potentially sick newborns is really the hardest time for stabilizing them and making rapid decisions," Dr. Chescheir explains.

The Miller quintuplets are being cared for in UNC's neo-natal intensive care unit. All are said to be "holding their own." Each baby has a three-person team. Dr. Parisi says that team consists of a neonatalogist, a pediatrician and a neonatal nurse practitioner."The three person team will be doing whatever needs to be done to assist those babies in their transition to life outside the uterus."Since the babies were born at 30 weeks -- normal gestation is 38-40 weeks -- Dr. Parisi says their chances for survival are good."The great majority of babies pass 28 weeks of gestation will all survive barring any abnormalities."

No word yet on names for the Miller babies. The couple believed they were having two boys, so they are a name short for the girls.

The babies have a 2-year-old big sister, Anna, waiting at home. They will also have support from many friends, relatives and the Triangle Mothers for Multiples group.

Although the cost of the delivery will be covered by the Millers' insurance company, the North Wake Baptist Church is raising money for other expenses. If you would like to help, you can call274-3197.

WRAL will continue to follow the story and bring you conditions and names of the babies as soon as that information is available. UNC Hospitals is no stranger to delivering quintuplets. The first set was delivered there in 1993.

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