Maternity ward preps for big delivery

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Seton hospital opened a new $39 million maternity ward, and the staff is getting ready for one of the nation's biggest deliveries.

"Some days it is like a rollercoaster ride," said expectant mom Casey Jones. "Some days we are super excited and cannot wait, and other days are overwhelming in how we are going to handle this."

It is overwhelming because Casey, 33, is expecting quintuplets, or five babies. She and her husband Ethan, 32, used artificial insemination. Four years ago, they did the same thing and only one girl was born.

"This time every single follicle released an egg, and they all took and survived and here we are with five," said Casey.

"You know, my daughter throws a fit, and I think I have five more of those coming," said Ethan.

While they are getting ready to have four girls and one boy, Seton has teams of 25 doctors and nurses on standby to deliver them. When Casey and Ethan get there, they will be welcomed into an all-new $39 million maternity ward.

"We have 30 new post-partum rooms, and they are big and spacious," said Sharon Perry, Seton maternity services director.

"The rooms were designed really well with patients' families in mind," said Dr. Stephanie Reich, OBGYN. "Keep in mind, it is not just the patient that comes here to have their baby. It is their entire family."

On Saturday, Kristie Kwan welcomed her new baby, Pierson Thomas, into the world. Three-and-a-half years earlier, she delivered her first kids in the old maternity ward at Seton.

"I felt like we were in a closet the last time, now it feels like we are at a hotel instead of a hospital," said Kwan.

The former maternity ward will be used for moms on bed rest or with babies in the Intensive Care Unit. The goal with new the ward was to put everything on one floor.

"You do not want to transport babies back and forth in the elevator, so it made sense to have everything on one floor," said Perry.

Plus, there are three new C-section operating rooms, a place Casey hopes to be within the next month.

"Can't wait to meet these guys, I mean girls, girls and guy," said Casey, laughing.

According to doctors, there are only an estimated 80 sets of quintuplets in the United States. KXAN Austin News will check back in with the couple once the babies are born.