COUNTYWIDE : Hospital Welcomes Back Quads

Brianna, Jeffrey, Vincent and Whitney Miner are not alone. Not only do the four have the special bond of being quadruplets, but they also share the miracle of their lives with the more than 100 medical professionals who helped bring them into the world.

Surrounded by pink and blue balloons and crepe paper, the infants celebrated six months of life Thursday at the hospital where they were born to Al and Karen Miner as a result of a new form of artificial insemination called GIFT--Gamete Intra-Fallopian Transfer. They are the first quadruplets born in Orange County after use of this technique and only the second in California.167772160 Dozens of nurses and doctors who helped deliver and care for the babies were on hand to cuddle the infants and share chocolate cake and fruit punch. They all displayed the same proud smiles as the parents--cooing and gasping when the babies drooled or smiled. For the Miners, Thursday was just another day to enjoy their well-behaved family.

“Sometimes we just sit back and say, ‘Can you believe it? Look how miraculous you guys are,’ ” said Karen Miner, a former elementary school teacher in Fullerton. She said the babies are even-tempered and do not cry very much. Indeed, they did not fuss much at all during their two-hour party at UCI Medical Center, though dozens of people held and played with them.

Miner, 33, gave birth to the quadruplets Feb. 10, about eight weeks premature. She said they decided to celebrate the six-month mark a week late so Dr. Manuel Porto, who performed the Cesarean section on Miner, could attend.

At the time of their birth, three of the babies were in good health. Jeffrey had fluid in his lungs and was on a respirator for four days. Now, Jeffrey is the second biggest of the bunch, Miner said, and growing stronger every day.

When asked right after the birth how it felt to be the father of quadruplets, Al Miner responded, “I don’t know if the reality has struck me yet. Ask me in six months.”

When asked Thursday, Al Miner said: “Actually, it’s been relatively easy. Well, easy isn’t the right word. The babies are very good babies--as babies go.”

The GIFT technique has been used in Orange County for about three or four years, Porto said. The process involves placing sperm and unfertilized eggs in a woman’s Fallopian tubes to let conception occur where it naturally would.

Ten doctors and a team of about 100 were on hand when Miner delivered her children. Set up in four color-coded teams, the groups took care of the babies as each one was born. For some of them, the experience will always be special.

“It’s so natural and it is so rare,” said Dr. Jack Sills, the neonatologist who cared for the children while they were in the hospital after their birth. “It’s really special--not only to be there when they are very ill but when they are like this. It is just wonderful.”