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Harford County Couple Welcomes Quad Babies – Including Identical Triplets - At Greater Baltimore Medical Center

BALTIMORE, Md. – April 18, 2008 – A Harford County woman had four truly special presents on her 32^nd birthday this year, delivering quadruplets (all boys)  - including a set of identical triplets -- at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.  Amanda and Joshua Prelich welcomed the babies into their lives on January 29, 2008, 11 weeks premature. All four have been home in Belcamp, MD since late March after their treatment in GBMC’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and are doing well.

There are incredibly long odds for such a birth - identical triplets are born at a rate between one in 60,000 and one in 200 million births, according to national research, and a specialist not affiliated with GBMC told the Prelichs there are less than 100 documented cases of babies that are born as monochorionic triplets plus one. 

In order of arrival, the babies are: JD (Joshua Drew) - born at 2 lbs, 8 oz and 15.5 inches long (11:38 a.m.); Gavin Michael - 2 lbs, 8 oz and 15 inches (11:39 a.m.); Cody Benjamin - 2lbs and 14 inches (11:40 a.m.); and Logan Christopher - 1 lb, 10 oz and 14.5 inches (11:41 a.m.).  JD, Gavin, and Cody are the triplets. GBMC physicians Claire Weitz, M.D., a perinatologist (high risk obstetrician), and Lilian Hunter, M.D. delivered the Prelich quads. Dr. Weitz also cared for Amanda Prelich during her pregnancy.  A two-clinician team (doctor or nurse practitioner paired with a nurse) was assigned to each baby, along with anesthesiologists and additional nurse and technician support, in the delivery room.  Each wore a letter (A,B, C or D) on their front and back, indicating which baby they would be taking care of.  “Everyone was focused and organized and the delivery went very smoothly,” said Dr. Weitz, who has previously delivered quadruplets.

“The labor and delivery room was extremely busy,” recalls Joshua Prelich.  “JD and Gavin were with us and Cody and Logan were taken into a room next door.  The delivery happened so fast, the boys were all born in little more than one minute.”

Amanda Prelich unexpectedly was admitted to GBMC’s High Risk Obstetrics Unit on Christmas Eve, where she was on strict bed rest for about five weeks until delivering the babies. From birth until discharge in March, the quads have been cared for in the hospital’s NICU, not uncommon for premature babies and/or sets of multiple infants.

The Prelich’s – Amanda once worked at GBMC as an agency radiographic technologist and Joshua currently is employed at the hospital as a radiographic technologist – transferred two embryos via in vitro fertilization; both implanted and then one of the embryos split twice into the triplets.

GBMC delivered nearly 4,800 babies in 2007 and the hospital is annually ranked as one of the busiest labor and delivery units in Maryland. There were 17 sets of triplets born at GBMC between September 2004 and January 2008, with one set of quads – the Prelich babies.

About GBMC
GBMC includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Central Maryland’s leading community hospital; Hospice of Baltimore, which provides comfort and care to patients with life-limiting illnesses; and the GBMC Foundation, which supports the GBMC mission by managing fundraising efforts.  The 298-bed Medical Center, located on a beautiful suburban campus, serves nearly 22,000 inpatients annually and provides approximately 60,000 emergency room visits. For more information, go to www.gbmc.org

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