It’s Quadruplets--3 Girls, 1 Boy--for Santa Ana Couple

A Santa Ana woman gave birth to quadruplets at UCI Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon, the second foursome to be born this year at the hospital.

Unlike the ones who arrived last Feb. 10, the boy and three girls born prematurely Wednesday to 28-year-old Consolacion (Solly) Amante were natural and not the result of fertility treatments, hospital officials said.

The chances of such “spontaneous” quadruplets is about 1 in 512,000 births, said Dr. Manuel Porto, the obstetrician who delivered the Amante infants by Cesarean section shortly after 1 p.m.

At one point during the 45-minute procedure, as the mother saw yet another child being taken from her womb, Porto said she looked up at him and said, “So there really were four, weren’t there?”

“Even though she had seen the sonograms and we had gone over it, there’s still that surreal aspect to it. She didn’t really believe it till they were there--four babies,” said Porto, a specialist in high-risk pregnancies and director of the maternal-fetal medicine division of the medical center.

The quadruplets, who were born 10 weeks prematurely, were in serious but stable condition in the Infant Special Care Unit at the medical center. They were being closely monitored in special “warmers” for signs of respiratory distress syndrome, a common problem because of the underdeveloped lungs often found in premature infants.

The boy, Jeremy Stewart Amante, was receiving oxygen to help him breathe, Porto said. All three girls were breathing unassisted--and looking “cute as buttons,” he added.

An army of 100 doctors, nurses and technicians were on hand for the assembly-line delivery, ready with color-coded bracelets, charts and equipment--all to speed the process and eliminate error.

Jeremy, the biggest at 3 pounds, 9 1/2 ounces, arrived first at 1:09 p.m. He was designated Baby Green. Seconds later came Baby Red, a 2-pound, 14 1/2-ounce girl named Jeraldine Elaine. Baby Orange clocked in at 1:10 p.m., a girl named Jessamine Eileen, who also weighed 2 pounds, 14 1/2 ounces. Last was Baby Blue, a 2-pound, 12-ounce girl named Jacqueline Elise, who followed within the minute.

Their father, Oscar Amante, 30, was with his wife throughout the process.

As the doctors were preparing to close his wife’s incisions, Porto said, Oscar was led to the nursery to see his four new children.

“At first I thought it couldn’t be happening to us, but it’s great,” the proud father said shortly after the births. “Our entire family is very excited.”

Said Porto of the dad: “He was just glowing--the classic proud papa. He’s been a real tower of strength.”

The Amantes, both Filipino, also have a 4-year-old son, Jonathan, and a 1-year-old daughter, Jane. Neither side of the family has a history of multiple births, the doctor said.

The previous set of quadruplets at UCI Medical Center were born Feb. 10 to Karen Miner, a 32-year-old schoolteacher from Orange. They were the county’s first set of quadruplets to be born through a non-test-tube fertility technique known as GIFT, which involves placing sperm and eggs in the mother’s Fallopian tubes. Porto also delivered the Miner quads, who were also premature but who eventually went home in good health.