5 Babies Get Stronger but It’s Struggle for ‘Peanut’

Five of the six surviving Frustaci septuplets grew healthier during their third day of life Thursday. One has shown “tremendous improvement,” said the babies’ chief doctor, and the smallest infant remained most severely ill.

The four boys and two girls, born Tuesday morning to Riverside schoolteacher Patti Frustaci, who took fertility drugs, remained officially in critical condition. The smallest and youngest, a boy nicknamed “The Peanut,” is still the most severely ill, and a girl, known only as Baby D, also is less robust than the other four, said Dr. Carrie Worcester, director of neonatal intensive care at Childrens Hospital of Orange County in Orange.

The first born, a girl jokingly called “Bigfoot” by her father during a videotaped visit Thursday, is in the best health, and has shown “tremendous improvement,” Worcester said during a news conference.

She said that medication appears to have corrected a heart-lung artery problem in all but the smallest baby and that an echocardiogram will definitively measure their progress today.

Chances Still 50-50

“Their chances are still 50-50 as long as they’re in this 72-hour critical period,” Worcester said. The babies will be 72 hours old shortly after 8 a.m. today

All six still suffer from a serious lung disease common in premature babies and remain on respirators, she said. The babies are all active, which is a good sign, Worcester said.

Four boys and three girls were delivered between 8:19 and 8:22 a.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, which is adjacent to Childrens Hospital. The last baby, a girl weighing 15 1/2 ounces and measuring 10 inches, was stillborn.

“Are these really my babies?” Frustaci said as she watched her infants on the television news, according to Tes Pane, head of obstetrical and gynecological nursing at St. Joseph Hospital, where Frustaci is in intensive care. Mrs. Frustaci was “astounded” to see them, Pane said at a news conference.

Frustaci was 28 weeks and two days pregnant at the time of the birth. A normal, uncomplicated pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.

The surviving babies, at birth, ranged in weight from 1 pound, 13 ounces, to 1 pound, 1 ounce. Several of them, including “The Peanut,” have lost weight, which is expected, doctors said. They measure between 13 3/4 and 10 inches.

During a videotaped visit with his newborns Thursday, father Samuel Frustaci, 32, was shown having a few intimate moments with two. He touched and stroked “The Peanut” and encouraged him to “keep fighting.” After a few seconds he added, “Keep up the good work, and don’t let anyone tell you you’re different.”

‘Look at This Foot!’

Approaching Baby A, Frustaci made a kissing noise, then touched a kicking foot bandaged to secure a tube, and said:

“We’re going to call you Bigfoot. Look at this foot!”

Then he held a small yellow T-shirt emblazoned with the Childrens Hospital logo--a teddy bear with a bandaged arm--against Baby A’s chest. It covered her entire body.

“It’s a little big for you,” he said with a laugh. Before departing, he kissed his finger and touched it to the baby’s forehead.

Later, at a news conference, Frustaci said he wants to name Baby A Anna Maria, to go with the family’s Italian last name, but he hinted that his wife may not agree.

Frustaci said it was exciting to “see my little flock.”

They know “when their daddy’s there,” he said.

“Peanut’s becoming everyone’s favorite because, I guess, everyone knows he’s got the toughest chance--the odds are against him,” he said.

“He knows when Daddy’s speaking and when he’s not.”

Then, his voice choking with emotion, Frustaci told reporters: “A lot of people think I’m an outgoing person and flamboyant. There is also a sensitive side . . . that comes out when I’m with my children,” he said. “If in any way I’ve shown anything but that, that’s not true. I hope and pray continually that your prayers will be with the children.”

All six infants suffer from hyaline membrane disease, an affliction that tends to make their lungs collapse after each breath because they lack a lubricating substance to keep the air sacs open.

On Wednesday, Worcester also diagnosed all six as suffering from a heart-lung problem common to low-weight premature babies.

The condition, called patent ductus arteriosus, is an opening between the aorta and the pulmonary artery, she said. The connection normally closes soon after birth in full-term babies, and the condition is common in extremely small babies, she said.

All were given three doses of medication over Wednesday and Thursday, and it appeared that the duct may have closed in all but the smallest infants, Worcester said.

Doctors could not detect the heart-lung problem through a stethoscope Thursday in babies A through E. An echocardiogram performed on “The Peanut” showed that the condition still exists, Worcester said.

The infants also are jaundiced, but the condition is not considered serious, Worcester said.

Patti Frustaci remained in good condition, her obstetrician, Dr. Martin Feldman said. He said that she may be released from the intensive care unit late today and that she is eager to see her babies.

“I’m eager for her (to see them). I think it’s important for her. Right now, they’re just photographs and images on a screen,” he said.