Orange : 2nd Frustaci Baby Will Go Home on Thursday

A second Frustaci septuplet will go home Thursday, aided by oxygen and cared for by a home nurse, a Childrens Hospital of Orange County spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Richard Charles Frustaci, the third born, will join his sister, Patricia Ann, who was released two weeks ago, at the Riverside home of parents Sam and Patti Frustaci. The third surviving septuplet, Stephen Earl, remains in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit but is expected to be released within a couple of weeks, said spokeswoman Laura Johnson.

Johnson said details about Richard Charles’ condition, including why he requires the oxygen flow, are expected to be released Thursday. However, the nasal oxygen tube is not unusual, she said. “Babies go home on these all the time,” Johnson said.

Four boys and three girls were born 12 weeks prematurely on May 21 to Patti Frustaci, a 30-year-old high school teacher who had taken fertility drugs. The seventh was stillborn and three babies died in the following three weeks.

All six who survived birth suffered from severe hyaline membrane disease, a respiratory affliction common to premature babies that makes their lungs tend to collapse after each breath because they lack a lubricating substance to keep the air sacs open.