The NICU team at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children's Hospital in Los Angeles is used to caring for multiples, as twins, triplets, quads, and beyond are often born prematurely, needing to stay in the NICU after birth. But 10 sets of twins PLUS quadruplets in the NICU at one time is undoubtedly a record for the LA hospital.
Nurses say that while they're used to caring for a large number of preemies at once, having this many sets of siblings in the unit is keeping them on their toes.
The hospital's NICU has a total of 45 beds, and at the time of the "baby boom," the multiples filled 24 of those beds.
The hospital NICU's associate director of nursing, Bevin Merideth, told Good Morning America,
We're used to having multiples in the NICU. It's not uncommon for multiples to not be able to carry to term. It's not something that's uncommon in the NICU, but it was like four twins, five twins, six twins, and once we got to 10, we realized this is a record.
Merideth first became interested in a career as a NICU nurse when her own sisters, twins, were cared for in the very same hospital when she was a teenager. She said of her sisters,
They were my first preemie babies, I call them. I immediately was like, 'I want to be a NICU nurse,' and have never left the NICU. I started in the NICU and have been here 25 years.
Parents of the babies say that the abundance of multiple babies has been a blessing, introducing them to 10 other families going through the same experience with children almost exactly the same age.
One of the fathers, Jordan Edelstein, told the hospital,
I was surprised there were two, let alone 10 sets of twins, but it's been great to connect with other parents and see their journey. It's comforting to see so many other families experiencing the same thing.
His wife, Diana, had this to say:
I had always envisioned having boy and girl twins, and somehow, by the grace of God, we were able to have that vision come true.
Another parent, Samantha Pearlman, said the parents had been exchanging phone numbers.
Rabbi Mendel and Hindi Mintz said having twins was "a big shock and double blessing," and Malka Naomi Feldman (pictured at top) said she was "double blessed."
Congrats to all of the new parents! Just for future reference, when I tell you to have more babies, I don't mean all at once! But I'm never one to complain about more babies, so carry on Los Angeles, carry on.
