Getting to know you: Mesa couple welcomes quadruplets at Banner Good Samaritan
PHOENIX (May 18, 2009) – In years past, Karen and Justin Billingsley would spend the Memorial Day holiday at one of Arizona’s great lakes. This year, the Mesa couple will be spending the holiday getting to know their new family: quadruplets born at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center on Monday.
The four babies – two girls and two boys – were born between 2:46 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. on Monday following a 31-week pregnancy.*
The Billingsley quadruplets had a total birthweight of 10 pounds, 8 ounces, according to Dr. John Elliott, Karen’s perinatologist and an expert in the delivery of high-order multiples. The delivery was performed by Dr. Elliott and Dr. Rebekah Tompkins, a third-year Obstetrics and Gynecology resident.
Karen and Justin are the new parents of:
BABY GIRL A, Emma; 1 lbs, 10 oz; 2:46 p.m.
BABY BOY B, Logan; 2 lbs, 12 oz; 2:47 p.m.
BABY GIRL C, Zoe; 2 lbs, 15 oz; 2:47 p.m.
BABY BOY D, Krishtian; 3 lbs, 3 oz; 2:50 p.m.
Karen, 22, was on bed rest starting at 18 weeks and was admitted to the hospital in late April. Still, the Jazzercise instructor was walking around the unit even on delivery day. Her doctors and nurses credit her physical condition and spirit as a major factor in extending her pregnancy.
Justin, a personal trainer and nursing student, was in awe of his wife shortly after the birth of the four babies. “Oh, my God!” he said. “I can’t believe it happened; I’m so glad that they’re doing well. Karen did a fantastic job bringing these babies to us.”
Dr. Elliott, and the nursing staffs at Banner Good Samaritan and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, have developed an international reputation for their care and management of women delivering high-order multiples (triplets or more). Banner Good Samaritan has delivered more than 90 sets of quadruplets, quintuplets and sextuplets.
Most of the quadruplets and quintuplets delivered at Banner Good Samaritan have come to Phoenix from another part of the country. This is thought to be more sets of high-order multiples than has been delivered at any other hospital in the U.S., and perhaps the world. Banner Good Samaritan is also a national referral center for many other kinds of high-risk obstetrical cases.
Dr. Elliott was profiled on Newsweek.com in February (“The Baby Keeper”; see the content at www.newsweek.com/id/182355) and in the April 2009 “Top Docs” issue of Phoenix Magazine (“Baby Einstein”) based on his extensive clinical experience and notable outcomes with multiple births.
Following delivery, the Billingsley babies are being cared for by Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s neonatology specialists. The Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), located inside Banner Good Samaritan, is operated by Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The connection between the two hospitals means mom can recover at Banner Good Sam, but remain only a quick wheelchair ride away from her babies.
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. Banner Good Samaritan is owned and operated by Phoenix-based Banner Health, a not-organization, and is a flagship hospital within the system. The hospital was named to U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list for Gynecology, Heart and Heart Surgery, Kidney Disease and Digestive Disorders. Banner Good Samaritan has been recognized as a Magnet™ facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor a hospital can earn for its nursing care and practices, and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Valley by The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ in 2007 and 2008 and one of the “Top 100 Hospitals to Work For” by Nursing Professionals magazine.
* Thirty-eight to 40 weeks is considered full-term in a singleton pregnancy.
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Contact:
Banner Good Samaritan Public Relations
(602) 239-4411
