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Babies' 1st Year Flies By

Tribune photo by CHRISTINE DELESSIO

The Byler sextuplets turned one on September 1. Brothers Jackson, Ryan and Charlie fight for a toy in their Wesley Chapel living room.

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By GEOFF FOX

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 1, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - The first year was a blur.

For Ben and Karoline Byler, parents of Florida's first surviving sextuplets, who turn 1 today, the past 12 months have brought media attention; medical drama; lots of help from family, friends and neighbors - and plenty of work.

On a recent afternoon, after Ben had come home from his job delivering bread for Pepperidge Farm, the babies - Brady Christopher, Charlie Craig, Eli Benjamin, Jackson Robert, Mackenzie Margaret and Ryan Patrick - sat at the kitchen table and polished off jars of pasta primavera, pasta Parmesan, and chicken and brown rice.

"We go through about 25 jars of food a day," Karoline said. "I'm thinking of making them oatmeal and applesauce myself to conserve some money."

The family spends about $300 a week in groceries, she said. But the bill would be much higher if Enfamil did not donate baby formula every week.

Getting all six babies fed sometimes can take two hours.

While they're being fed, though, at least they're stationary.

Afterward, caring for the babies, who are now crawling, can be even more challenging. In fact, making sure they each get enough individual attention has been one of the most difficult aspects of raising six babies, Karoline said.

For Ben, 31, leisure time is a happy memory. "I used to play golf," he said with a laugh.

His job starts at 4 a.m., but as anyone with children knows, the work doesn't end when he gets home, about 11:30 a.m. Often, he and Karoline care for a few children at a time, then switch off.

Today, the Bylers' already crowded house - where swings, jumpers, strollers, a small pink umbrella and several car seats fill the dining room - will be filled with friends and family for a Winnie the Pooh-themed birthday party.

"It's hard to believe they're already a year old," Karoline, 30, said. "It seems to have gone by so quickly. It's been a lot of work, but we've had a lot of help. In the beginning, we didn't have help. Sometimes, I was by myself for 16 hours, but that was just a couple of weeks.

"I'd be calling Ben and saying, 'When are you coming home?'"

Born at St. Petersburg's Bayfront Medical Center, the Bylers are the 14th set of sextuplets to survive in the United States.

Around-The-Clock Help

Nurses from Maxim Health Care are at the Bylers' Country Walk home 24 hours a day; two stay overnight. That was especially crucial when Charlie, the last of the sextuplets to come home from St. Petersburg's All Children's Hospital in November, caught pneumonia a couple of months ago. He has since recovered.

"We're all attached to them now," nurse Judy Solbach said. "They're like our babies, too. Technically, I just help with Charlie because we have to monitor the oxygen in his blood. But if one of the other babies needs to be picked up, I'm going to do it if Charlie's happy."

Fortunately, the nursing care is covered by Ben's insurance. The nurses check the babies' vital signs throughout the day, give them medication and sometimes help with housework.

The Bylers also get help from nearby friends, neighbors and family, including their oldest daughter, Zoe, 5, who recently started kindergarten at Double Branch Elementary School.

"Zoe loves, loves, loves being a big sister," Karoline said. "She plays with them and wants to change their diapers all the time, but she always wants to put a glove on because she sees the nurses do it.

"The babies love Zoe and smile when she comes around."

A Half-Dozen Individuals

Brady, the first of the sextuplets to come home, is robust, sometimes taking toys from his siblings with a delighted grin.

Brady power-naps during the day, his mother said.

"Then he's ready to jump around for hours on end. Usually, one or two of them sleep through the night, but never all at once."

As she spoke, Brady slapped his legs, smiled and slobbered. He grabbed a toy shaped like a large butterfly and slammed it down, baby-style.

Mackenzie seems to wear a perpetual smile, even as she is waiting to be fed.

"She's probably the best, behavior-wise," her mother said. "She's so easygoing."

Before lunch, Jackson and Charlie bounced in exercise saucers as a "Frasier" rerun played on a flat-screen television.

Nearby, Ryan and Eli played on interlocking foam mats that prevent injury when the tots topple over.

After several moments of mayhem-free play, Ryan and Charlie began to cry.

For her birthday in August, Zoe wanted the entire family to go to the Museum of Science & Industry in Tampa. They rarely go out en masse.

"We had to take two cars, but we had a good time," Karoline said. "People stop you, and they all want to see the babies.

"There were some people from Scotland there and they were saying, 'We don't have that in our country.'"

BYLER SEXTUPLETS: BY THE NUMBERS

6: Babies

25: Jars of baby food consumed daily

36: Diapers soiled daily

About $125: The cost of filling the family's massive diesel van, which seats 10 and gets 20 miles per gallon

About $300: The family's weekly grocery bill

4: The number of times the sextuplets, older sister Zoe and both parents have been out in public together

0: Times the sextuplets have been to the pediatrician's office for checkups. For the Bylers, doctors with Internal Medicine & Pediatrics of Tampa Bay make house calls.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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