One of the Quintuplets Dies

One of the quintuplets born to Brigid Maskell and John Mistalski passed away on October 17, 2009. The parents say, baby A, Kayla Lizabeth Maskell died of complications.

Kayla underwent exploratory surgery on October 11, 2009 Sunday, according to her parents.

The babies were born on October 1, 2009 and remain at Women and Children's Hospital in Buffalo.

As for the prognosis of the four babies, Mistalski said, "doctors say it's a roller coaster ride, but lately it's been pretty steady."

While the family is asking for prayers, they wanted to emphasize that they are not looking to take advantage of others. The working couple is doing all they can to care for their babies. Two cribs are in the home as they await the day when the four will come home.

Annabelle came off the ventilator two weeks ago, but was quickly returned to it, "they thought she was ready and would be doing fine then realized one of the vessels in her lungs was not open wide enough so she wasn't able to get the oxygen back into her lungs so they had to put her back on. The same thing with Ramona. They tried taking her off and her one lungs collapsed so they put another chest tube in," said Maskell.

A few weeks ago, doctors said the boys, Tyler Jackson and Justin Michael, ,were "the most critical." The boys suffered head bleed, meaning there is blood accumulation within the brain tissue of the baby's skull. "The blood vessels, when the baby is born prematurely are premature, and are very easily broken. Blood vessels easily rupture and that's why blood leaks into the blood tissue," said Dr. Stephanie Mann, director of the hospital's Perinatal Center.

The five babies (three girls and two boys) were born prematurely at twenty five weeks. They are being cared for in the hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit.

Maskell has a set of twins from a previous relationship. Now she and husband John Mistalski have five newborns.

Maskell was hoping to deliver the babies closer to her January due date. However on Thursday, "all of a sudden, my heart started beating really, really fast and I couldn't breathe then contraction, after contraction, so I knew she was going to deliver them," said Maskell.

A team was set up for each baby in the delivery room.

As for their prognosis, Dr. Mann said, their survival rate is 30-40% for multiple births babies born at 25-weeks. All of the babies are on respiratory support."

The largest baby weighs just under two pounds, the smallest is just shy of one pound.

The issue of fertility drugs was addressed by the parents. After trying for a couple of years to conceive a child, they contacted a fertility specialist. Maskell received an injection of Ovidrel. According to her husband, it is a "shot to help mature the eggs, we didn't do the implants or anything like that."

Now that the size of the Mistalski-Maskell family has jumped from four to nine, the parents are scrambling to get necessary items like car seats and a vehicle to transport the entire family.

The quintuplets names are:

Kayla Lizabeth, Ramona Wednesday, Annabelle Americus, Justin Michael and Tyler Jackson.

A fund has been set up to help the family.

The QUINTUPLET FUND

Niagara County's Credit Union

260 West Avenue

Lockport, NY 14094

Watch Claudine Ewing's exclusive reports with the family and doctor.