NORMAL - Tiffany Michaels looked up from feeding a bottle of milk to her daughter, Lauren. Her husband, Jon, was on another couch, feeding their son, Gavin. Family friend Kori Gettel was on the floor, holding bottles for Reese and Maggie. | Photo gallery | Archived Video: Quads come home | UPDATE: Local doctor recovers from crash | UPDATE: Woman lives on borrowed time

"We always wanted a big family," Tiffany said with a smile. "And we got it instantly."

She laughed. "We're a normal family - just with four babies crawling around!"

Tiffany and Jon Michaels of Normal are the parents of quadruplets born Feb. 19 at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. The Michaels' family was introduced to Pantagraph readers on Mother's Day.

Despite the ups and downs that go with caring for four babies born prematurely, Gavin, Reese, Maggie and Lauren are healthy - as are mom and dad.

"I think it's easier than I thought it would be," Tiffany said. "I love my life."

Tiffany left her job as a teacher at Montessori Children's Centre in Bloomington.

"This is my full-time job now," she said, nodding to her four children.

Jon, who works in catastrophe services at State Farm Insurance Cos, said he enjoys each day and finds it interesting as the children's personalities develop.

"Maggie is very laid back," Tiffany said as Maggie played by herself with a toy. "She is the most sensitive."

"I think she smiles the most of all of 'em," Jon said.

"Gavin likes to wrestle," Tiffany said as he crawled around. "He's all boy, climbing and knocking his head.

"Reese is the most sociable," Tiffany said, as Reese tried to climb up a reporter's leg.

"And Lauren is so sweet," Tiffany said as she held Lauren.

"They're all starting to teethe," Jon said, pointing to chew toys in the family room.

"We wanted kids for so long," he said. "But this is a 180 from where we were a year and a half ago."

Tiffany and Jon, who have been married for six years, were unable to conceive, so they tried artificial insemination three times without success.

The next step was in vitro fertilization, which involves fertilizing the ova with sperm outside the body, then injecting the fertilized ova into the uterus. When it didn't work twice, the Michaels were devastated.

But Carle's reproductive endocrinologist found endometriosis (the growth of endometrial tissue) on Tiffany's ovaries and removed the tissue. A third attempt was made at in vitro, with four fertilized eggs.

Aware that multiples were possible

Tiffany and Jon knew there was an increased chance of multiples but were surprised several weeks later when four strong heart beats were detected. Because of their faith, they never considered "selectively reducing" the number of embryos.

Twenty-eight weeks into Tiffany's pregnancy, the children were born by Cesarean section. While none of the children had major complications, Lauren, the smallest, was placed on a ventilator for 30 days because her lungs weren't fully developed.

Gavin, Reese and Maggie were released from Carle in April. Lauren came home in late May.

"I was more overwhelmed at the beginning," Tiffany admitted. As prematurely born infants, Gavin, Reese and Maggie came home with breathing and heart rate monitor lines and used them for several weeks.

Lauren was on oxygen until the end of September.

"Because of her prematurity and because she was on a ventilator for more than 30 days, she was diagnosed with chronic lung disease," Tiffany said. "Her lungs are still developing."

Lauren continues to get breathing treatments once every few days from her parents. She has a higher risk than the other children of developing asthma.

The children get physical therapy in their home. Therapists are making sure the children reach their developmental milestones.

Three of the four children are crawling. Lauren gets around by rolling.

"Overall, they're doing great," Tiffany said. "We're really, really blessed."

During summer evenings, Tiffany and Jon would take the children out in their strollers. But now, during RSV season, they're spending a lot more time indoors and are getting monthly RSV injections.

RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), a common cause of respiratory tract infections in young children, spreads easily from person to person and is most prevalent during cold months. Children born prematurely and with a chronic lung condition are among those at a greater risk of getting RSV, which can lead to serious illness.

The children get up about 6:15 a.m. and go to bed about 6:30 p.m. Their days include playing, listening to their mother sing and watching Baby Einstein (a stimulating video for young children).

Nodding to Gettel, Tiffany and Jon said they couldn't successfully care for quadruplets without assistance from family and friends.

"We have had such a wonderful support system," Tiffany said.