Irondequoit/Rochester, N.Y. - A team of doctors, nurses and other professionals filled the operating room at Strong Hospital Saturday morning for a very special arrival. Katie and Chris Muchard were not expecting the quads to arrive until January 18. But doctors decided they needed to deliver the babies after they diagnosed a complication with the placenta. They prepared to deliver the babies by C-section. The three boys and one girl were born within four minutes, Brian was the largest, weighing three pounds ten ounces. Lillian the smallest, at just one pound fifteen ounces. Owen and Mason are the other boys. The parents found out at six weeks that they were expecting not one, not two, not three but four babies. Katie said they started laughing and were excited. Chris wanted to throw a party. Since the couple had used fertility treatments, there was a possibility of multiple births, but they thought maybe twins. They weren't thinking in fours, but said they are blessed and grateful. The babies were ten weeks early and must spend the next several weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Strong Hospital. Chris is spending the night with the babies while Katie recovers. Once she is better, she will remain at the hospital with the babies until they go home. These are the couple's first children. "I am officially a stay at home mother now," Katie said. Family and friends have helped the couple prepare for their bigger family, helping with the nursery, shopping and donating baby items and diapers. They will also have a baby shower in December. Katie said she wanted to wait to make sure everything was okay before going ahead with a shower. She said right now it's minute to minute as they babies grow and get stronger. Though Lillian is the smallest, she is the feisty one, according to doctors. The Muchards haven't been able to hold the babies yet because they are in incubators, but they will get the chance this week. Katie said the babies respond to their parents voices and have opened their eyes. She said she was both excited and nervous to deliver the quads, but glad they are here. They said all of them were named after someone in the family and the names were all picked out when babies A,B,C, and D were born. Katie said the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy were fine but then she felt like she was hit by a truck. She has been on bed rest for the last several weeks. She went to the hospital Friday night thinking she had a blood clot in her legs. That's when doctors decided they needed to deliver the babies.
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