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Sextuplets Halfway Home

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2007

Photos: Coming Home From The Hospital, Baby Shower Pictures

Previous Coverage: Bylers Make Sure Transformed Home Has Six Appeal

ST. PETERSBURG - Half the Byler sextuplets are home.

Eli Benjamin and Mackenzie Margaret were released from All Children's Hospital on Monday, 11 days after their brother, Brady Christopher, was allowed to go to the Byler household in Wesley Chapel.

Still under the watchful eye of physicians and nurses are Ryan Patrick, Jackson Robert and Charlie Craig.

Photo by Jay Nolan / Tampa Tribune

'I would like them all home,' said their mother, Karoline, 'but it makes it a little easier to break it up, to get them situated and to get used to everything.'

Karoline's remarks came moments before she and her husband, Ben, a Pepperidge Farms delivery truck driver, prepared to take Eli and Mackenzie out of a stroller and put them into the family's Dodge Caravan. Brady had come along for the ride and also was in the stroller.

The three infants had all just eaten, Karoline Byler said, and were fast asleep. 'I just fed Mackenzie upstairs and she just wolfed down the bottle,' she said.

'We need to get a new van if Jackson is coming home Friday,' Karoline said, almost to herself, as she and her husband strapped in half their new brood outside the hospital. The sextuplets also have a sister Zoe, 4.

The infants' release from hospital care since their Sept. 1 births by Caesarean section hinges on a couple of factors, including their weight and their ability to eat on their own. All six now weigh more than the 4-pound, 4-ounce benchmark needed to be released, but there remain some eating issues for the three still hospitalized.

Ryan is learning how to eat; Charlie remains on oxygen and is incapable of feeding; and Jackson is eating regularly, but the hospital staff want to make sure he doesn't tire himself out doing so, neonatologist Fauzia Shakeel said.

Meanwhile, back at the Byler household, Brady was 'missing having his siblings so close,' Karoline said. His parents acquired a womb bear - which simulates the conditions of the womb - to comfort him.

'I think he'll be excited to have them back tonight,' she said.

Though Brady Christopher was the first to be released, at least in part because of his healthy appetite, he had to wear a sleep apnea monitor in case he stopped breathing temporarily, a condition he experienced while in hospital care. At home, though, there have been no episodes, his mother said Monday.

Eli and Mackenzie also were fitted with sleep apnea monitors before their release. A nurse is expected to visit the Byler household once a day for a week, for about 30 minutes at a time, as the Bylers get used to tending to their babies.

As for the three still in the hospital, they 'were crying hysterically when we were leaving,' Karoline Byler said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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