ENCINITAS: Couple coping with quadruplets

Four times the joy ... and four times the diapers

By RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 23, 2008 6:11 PM PDT ∞

ENCINITAS ---- Alessandra Gracie and her husband, Roberto Caetano, have not enjoyed more than an hour or two of sleep in more than a month.

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And they may not get much more than that any time soon.

That is because the Encinitas couple recently welcomed, not one, not two or three, but four healthy babies into the world.

The three boys and one girl ---- named Keani, Kaio, Kauan and Kalia ---- all weighed between 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 pounds at birth, which is excellent for quadruplets, said the babies' neonatologist Eric Schultz.

The babies were delivered by Caesarian section July 15 by Schultz and a team of 11 other doctors and nurses at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women.

"They will certainly go on to do very well," he said, adding that the babies were kept in neonatalogy intensive care unit for almost two weeks before going home. "But it is going to be very difficult on the family."

According to national statistics, the chance of delivering quadruplets is one in 10,000.

Schultz said the babies need to be fed every three hours. And though the couple said they try to keep to a feeding schedule, it can sometimes take almost two hours to feed and change all four babies before they all settle down to sleep.

"We got a little spreadsheet of who ate and how much," said Caetano, who has been working from home as a multimedia designer for the military contractor SAIC. Gracie, who worked at Scripps Encinitas as a surgical nurse until she was prescribed bed rest with the pregnancy, does not plan to return to work for the time being.

"It is really overwhelming at times," said Gracie who was told to expect triplets after an ultrasound in January.

Then ---- just five days before the birth ---- another ultrasound showed quadruplets.

"Dad kept his cool the whole time though he admitted that he was in shock," added Schultz. "But they are very happy parents and very attentive."

The couple also have a 3-year-old boy named Kalani who, Caetano said, is very aware of what is going on and extremely proud.

"One of his friends said he was jealous," said Caetano, adding that the children at Kalani's preschool gave him a standing ovation when they heard he had four new babies at home. "So Kalani told him 'you can have two, and I'll have two.' It's called teamwork."

Teamwork is just what it takes to manage the roughly 32 feedings and diaper changes each and every day on virtually no sleep. Even with Gracie's mother staying with them to help, the exhaustion is palpable in the family's tidy 1,200-square-foot condominium in Encinitas.

Right now, Caetano said, the family is going through one big bag of diapers each day and a large can of formula to supplement Gracie's breast milk.

There is also a great deal of equipment required for four newborns, including bottles, cribs, breast pumps, car seats, strollers, carriers, bouncy chairs, as well as blankets and cloths.

Some equipment has been donated from friends and family, but the financial strain of raising five children on a single salary has Caetano worried.

Just the co-payment every time the babies visit the pediatrician is $60.

"We went from two solid incomes to one for seven people," he said. "And there is no support unless you fall below the poverty line."

Both born and raised in Brazil, the couple met and fell in love in Santa Cruz in 1998 over a World Cup match between Brazil and France. Then in 2001, they moved to Encinitas when they bought their home where they plan to stay for now.

"It is hard and a lot of work," said Caetano. "But this is in our path, so we stand up and take it. And I think we must have these babies because it was meant to be."

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 901-4074 or rwebster@nctimes.com.

If you want to help ...

To donate to the Caetano/Gracie family, send checks or gift certificates to:

SD Quadruplets

PO Box 231783

Encinitas CA 92023-1783

Or contact them at sdquadruplets@gmail.com.