by Kelli Cottrell

RIDGECREST - It takes a church to raise quadruplets. The Quad Squad, to be exact.

Kelli and Dennis Sarratt found out last summer during Vacation Bible School that three embryos Kelli had implanted through in vitro fertilization were developing. When the babies were born, fellow members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Ridgecrest stepped in to help take care of them, calling themselves The Quad Squad.

As soon as they found out the Sarratts were going to have multiple babies, church members in the High Desert town of 27,000 began praying that all would be healthy.

"I was shocked," said Kelli, 31, when she found out. "I cried, not because I was sad but it was overwhelming."

Dennis, 30, felt frightened.

"Like anyone would be," he said. "I was scared."

The couple already had two sons, Blake, 7, and Dillon, 3, and had lost a baby in between the two pregnancies.

"We had used fertility with the first child and we weren't sure we wanted to have another one or should stop at two," Kelli said. "It was a good decision, though."

Two weeks after finding out she was pregnant the doctor told the couple one of the embryos had split to become a set of identical embryos and there were going to be four babies - but that most likely they would not all make it.

The Sarratts just prayed and kept all the prayer-chains contacted, they said.
After a generally smooth pregnancy, Kelli entered the hospital at 26-and-a-half weeks and quadruplets were delivered by cesarean section at 30 weeks.
The babies were home a month before their actual due date.

Kelli delivered Hudson, Tucker, Hunter and Madyson, each weighing from 2.6 to 3.5 pounds, on Nov. 25.

"They were really little," said Kelli, who grew up at Immanuel.
At six weeks old the newborns came home from the hospital each with his own oxygen tank.

Antelope Valley Hospital, where Kelli spent the four weeks before delivery, is about an hour-and-a-half from their home. It was not easy for Dennis to commute, but they did not see that as the worst part.

The first few months the family was home were very trying for the couple.

After being home for 10 days and training the 35-plus church volunteers how to care for the babies with oxygen tanks attached, the quads all developed a serious respiratory virus.

Each baby contracted the virus at a different time and was either flown by helicopter or taken by ambulance to various hospitals. At one time a couple of the babies were at Loma Linda University in San Bernardino and others were at another hospital. They all ended up at Loma Linda together.

"I had a few meltdowns during that time," Kelli said. "That was the hardest part."

The Quad Squad helped the Sarratts during that time with their other two boys and supporting the family.

"We had so many church members and friends calling to say they wanted to help that I thought it was a good idea to put a schedule together," said Kelli's mom, Adele Crow, who lives nearby and also is a member of Immanuel.

The Quad Squad continued their shifts as each baby returned home.

Every two to four hours a team of one or two adults would come over to the Sarratt's home and help make bottles, wash bottles, change diapers, do laundry and allow Kelli time to have a shower or go grocery shopping.

"It's the highlight of my week," said Susan Logan, wife of Immanuel senior pastor Bill Logan, who has a weekly timeslot with the babies. "Everyone's enjoyed them. This is the first time we've done something like this."

When someone has to miss their turn with the quadruplets they insist on making it up another day, Crow added.

The babies drink three gallons of formula a day and go through about 225-250 diapers a week.

Although it is easier now, there were some scary moments for the Sarratts early on.

Hudson and Hunter, who shared an embryonic sac, were expected to be conjoined and the Sarratt's doctor told them they may end up entangling in each others' umbilical cords and killing each other.

"We were told they wouldn't survive and if one did it would have cerebral palsy," Kelli said. "We had the whole church praying for the health of the babies."

At delivery, one of the boys was entangled with the other but was delivered before any damage was done. Five-and-a-half months later, they are healthy, growing, identical babies.

Two of the quads had heart surgery five weeks ago to repair a hole in their hearts, which is not abnormal for premature babies, Kelli said.
And one of the quadruplets will need eye surgery.

"But it's nothing serious," she said. "They are all doing well.

"I would have gone crazy without the volunteers," Kelli added.

Each baby is assigned a color for a chart that records when they eat and are changed to make sure no one is missed.

Tucker is blue, Madyson is pink, Hunter is green and Hudson is yellow. The babies have color-coded bottles and are usually dressed in that color to tell them apart.

Because the Sarratts were told one of the quadruplets was a girl only a week-and-a-half before delivery, the baby room had to be changed from a cowboy theme to a cowboy and cowgirl theme, Crow said.

In addition to the shifts by church members, several regularly provide meals and the congregation held a baby shower attended by more than 90 women after the quadruplets were born.

"We still have enough diapers from the shower for about six weeks," said Kelli, who was given a four-passenger stroller by her husband's coworkers. "We still have a lot of hospital bills but we haven't sorted that all out yet."

The four babies were dedicated to the Lord at church on Mother's Day and have been attending since the week before Easter.

"I thought it would be hard to go to church with them but I get so much help it's easy," said Kelli, who at first felt strange about accepting the help. "It's hard for me to let people help me. I feel funny having someone fold my laundry while I rock a baby. But I am very thankful."

Dennis anticipated about five or so people would volunteer to help when the babies were born.

"I was surprised there were so many people who wanted to help," he said.
He has only stayed with the four babies by himself for about 15 minutes. "It was rough."

Kelli is getting used to normal life with quadruplets and two other children, venturing to the grocery store with two at a time.

"We still take them to my son's baseball games and plan to go camping this summer," she said.

The Sarratts are not sure how long they will need church members' help, but know they couldn't have done it thus far without them.

"In a few months they'll be very busy," said Crow, who takes two home with her every night to let Kelli and Dennis get some sleep.

"I don't know how people do it without a church family" Kelli said.