Family tree expands by three
By JIM HARRINGTON
Article published on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006
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| Kate and Eric Suhoza hold their triplets, who were delivered at Bayfront Medical Center. Christopher, their 21-month-old, will soon meet brothers Eric, Sean and his sister, Molly. |
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COUNTRYSIDE – Imagine coming home from the obstetrician, thinking of a way to tell your husband that you’re pregnant. Not just with one baby. Not just with two babies. But with triplets.
That’s what Kate Suhoza told her husband, Eric, when she found out that the family of three would expand very quickly.
Two boys, Eric and Sean, and their sister, Molly, will join their older brother, 21-month-old Christopher, when they return from All Children’s Hospital, where they were transferred after their births at Bayfront Medical Center.
Molly, who weighed three pounds, 13.5 ounces, will go home to the Suhoza house, not far from Ruth Eckerd Hall, in about two weeks, said her dad, who works for Zerox Capital Services and is a 1981 graduate of Countryside High School.
The babies, born Jan. 3, are healthy, but were delivered at 32 weeks, instead of a typical 40 week gestation period. Sean will go home in mid-February. He was the biggest of the three, weighing in at four pounds, 6.5 ounces.
Eric, who was the lightest at two pounds, 9.75 ounces, is expected to go home in March.
Life right now is still somewhat normal, expect for the fact that Kate spends a lot of time at the hospital in St. Petersburg. A 1985 graduate of Countryside High School, Kate and her husband of almost four years, tag team caring for their son, who doesn’t quite understand that he’s an older brother now.
Less than nine months ago, when they first heard the news that she was pregnant, they were pleased. They weren’t trying for a large family and neither parent has family members with a history of multiple births. It just worked out that way.
But when they heard the news that they were having twins, it surprised them.
“We were taken back,” Eric said, when the sonogram proved that Kate, in fact, was carrying triplets.
There weren’t any major problems with the pregnancy, but her physician, Jose Prieto, wanted them to have the births at Bayfront because the hospital is better equipped to handle multiple pregnancies which carry a high risk of complications.
Once the family is finally at home, the Suhozas will get lots of help from relatives who will come in from out of town. In the meantime, Suhoza said he’s gotten help from friends and family members who have helped with a specially-built crib that holds three infants.
After a while, the triplets will have their own beds, but Suhoza said it is recommended that the babies sleep together at first.
In addition to family and friends, they also have extended family members, people they’ve met at the hospital.
“You develop relationship with other families,” said Suhoza, who plans to stay put with four children.
“Four (children) under 2 is a challenge.”
Why did the Suhoza family go to Bayfront, when there are other hospitals in the county?
“Bayfront Medical Center is the only high-risk pregnancy referral center in Pinellas County. Bayfront is one of only 10 regional perinatal intensive care centers in the state of Florida,” said Bayfront spokeswoman Nancy Waite in an e-mail interview.
The biggest and most common complications with multiple births, she said, are pre-term labor and premature deliveries.
According to Waite, the Suhoza triplets were the first set of multiple births this year at Bayfront.
Last year, there were 77 sets of twins, six sets of triplets and one set of quads and a total 3,195 births.
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Article published on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006
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