TRAVERSE CITY -- Oh, boy.
Make that: Oh, boy; oh, boy; oh, boy; and oh, girl.
Tonya and Jeremy Lewandowski were astonished.
"It was shocking," said Tonya, of the confirmation that she was pregnant with quadruplets.
With that news, the Bellaire couple, now in the process of relocating to Traverse City, embarked on a sometimes scary, always busy and ultimately joyful journey to double their family. Tonya gave birth to four infants known in utero as Babies A, B, C and D on July 31. The three boys and a girl joined big brothers Aiden, 4, and Caleb, 2, to boost the family count to eight.
"We know how blessed we are that they have been as healthy as they are ...," Tonya said. "To have all four of them with us, we are just so grateful."
It took a 20-plus member medical team at Munson Medical Center to complete the Caesarean delivery, the couple said. The babies were born a minute apart: Summer, weighing 2 pounds 4.5 ounces; Brock, 2 pounds 9 ounces; Cameron, 2 pounds 13 ounces; and Dane, 2 pounds 14 ounces.
Tonya, 31, and Jeremy, 33, met as college lab partners at Michigan Tech. Leave it to two engineers/parents to develop a formula to name their offspring. Jeremy was in charge of the babies' names, the first letter of which is the same as their identifying letter in the womb. Summer is the exception.
"She got a special name because she was the only girl ...," Jeremy said.
The Lewandowski quadruplets are at least the second set of four siblings born at the Traverse City hospital; quads were delivered there a few years ago, said a Munson spokesman.
An extensive network of parents of multiple births, friends and family helped the Lewandowskis prepare for "Quad Day" and life after. Another mother of quads offered her extra-big stroller. Problem was, it was in Colorado. Shipping the heavy contraption could have cost as much as buying one. So, "through this crazy quad network," the stroller made its way stop-by-stop from stranger-to-stranger to Michigan, Tonya said.
Many others stepped up, unasked, to offer assistance. A group of college friends mobilized. George Moeke said about 10 buddies e-mailed back and forth and held regular conference calls to discuss how to help the family.
"Most of us, we all have kids ourselves, and we know all the obstacles, just the struggles sometimes, how hard it can be -- and knowing they already have the two (children)," he said.
The friends organized a Sept. 13 golf scramble at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. They tagged the event "The Lewandowski Quad Open" and gave it the slogan "Fore For Four." Proceeds go to the family. There are nearly 100 golfers signed up to play and room for more to join, Moeke said.
The babies have grown stronger since birth. At first, their mother and father couldn't hold them. The babies likely will remain at the hospital until mid-September as they work on gaining weight. Their parents marvel at the four babies.
"The first week was quite a ride ...; they are just so fragile and delicate," said Jeremy. "Toes and fingers that you can't begin to describe how small they are."
"But how perfect, like every little thing is where it needs to be," Tonya said.
They are asked frequently if fertility treatments were involved in the quads' conception, a topic the couple is hesitant to discuss. Tonya had ovulation induction, a minimal type of assistance, she said.
"We feel like God hand chose our family because He knows we'll be OK, and we are so excited for this. And, He knew we would make the right decisions," Tonya said. "When people ask that question, we really feel like it doesn't matter."
She carried the quads just past 31 weeks and remained active throughout the pregnancy. She kept working as long as possible, never went on bed rest and is "doing great" following the births, Jeremy said. Tonya plans to stay at home with the six children, at least until they reach school age.
The couple put their house in Bellaire up for sale and plan to permanently move to Traverse City to remain close to medical care. They have been staying at Munson's hospitality house, and a relative offered the use of a cottage. The family has kept a routine for the sake of older brothers Aiden and Caleb with help from Tonya's mother. The parents go to the hospital throughout the day to see the quads and spend hours there at night.
"We've made it, you know, and we just knew from day one, I think, just keeping that positive outlook and maintaining that everything's going to be OK has been so important to our well-being, to the babies' and to our older boys," Tonya said.
For more information about the golf outing and other ways friends and family are helping the family, visit the Web site lewandowskiquadruplets.com.
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