Friday, May 19, 2006

SEBRING — The odds of hitting five out of six numbers in the Florida Lottery for an estimated payout of $5,000 are approximately 81,000 to one.
 

That’s a far cry from the 1 million-to-one odds Anthony and Elisa Ewing beat when two fertilized eggs split, each becoming separate sets of identical twins. The twosome of twins were born April 3 at Florida Hospital in Orlando, and the last finally came home May 6.
 

The girls, Alexandria and Gabrielle, and the boys, Hunter and Preston, also beat some odds by surviving the high-risk pregnancy and their premature birth, according to Dr. Sharon Jaffe of the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Orlando. All are healthy and thriving.
 

While the best things in life may be free, these children come with tremendous cost. According to www.babycenter.com, it will cost an estimated $904,248.00 to raise all four through age 18, not including college; or $1,638,328.00 if public college is provided.
 

Planning for the dream
 

Elisa and Anthony Ewing were married Nov. 3, 2001. It had been a lifelong dream of Elisa’s to have a baby, but after a year with no success, they decided to seek medical help.
“They told us that the only way we could have a baby was through in vitro (fertilization),” Elisa Ewing said.
 

Learning the cost of the procedure and that insurance in Florida wouldn’t cover it, they put their heads together and devised a plan.
 

“We down-sized,” Elisa Ewing said. “We added an apartment to my mom’s house and started saving money. Then we moved into an recreational vehicle belonging to my sister-in-law and lived there.”
 

Both had good jobs — Anthony as an independent race car mechanic and Elisa as a social worker for Florida Hospital Heartland Division’s Daybreak Behavioral Health — and Elisa Ewing took a second job at Heartland Home Health.
 

Their combined commitment to hard work had provided them with a decent living. After cutting corners, saving and living modestly, they finally took out a loan and prepared to take the plunge.
 

Going for it
 

In 2004, the Ewings went to the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Orlando.
 

Both the doctor and the couple were cautious and conservative, Elisa Ewing explained, trying to avoid multiple births and the possible resultant complications.
 

“The first time they put in three eggs; but I didn’t get pregnant,” she said. “It was just devastating.”
 

In spite of the disappointment, they continued working and saving money to try again. By August 2005, they were ready for another go around.
 

“This time they only put in two eggs,” Elisa Ewing said. “But the doctor said that because of their high quality, I had a 50 percent chance that one would take.” She also explained that ordinarily there would be a 30 percent chance.
 

“I started taking (at-home) pregnancy tests all the time and they were always negative,” she said. “I finally got a faint pink line on one.” Elisa Ewing said that she called pregnancy test company to ask about it.
 

“They told me that any line (indicating positive results) was positive,” she said.
 

Knowing that the only surefire way to tell would be with a blood test, she arranged to have one.
 

“The blood test was nine times higher than normal (for a pregnant woman),” she said. “I thought, ‘Maybe twins?’ And the nurse said, ‘Could be.” We would have to wait for an ultrasound.
 

The shock
 

The ultrasound left everyone stunned. It revealed not one (the number the couple had hoped for), not two (the number they would have been willing and able to carry, raise and support), not three, but four babies — all from two eggs with a 50 percent chance one baby would result.
 

The elation of being pregnant was instantly overshadowed by concerns and new worries.
 

Elisa Ewing said that all kinds of questions went through her mind. How could they possibly support four babies? How could they juggle so many babies and their jobs? Would the babies be healthy? Would she be able to carry so many at once? Unanswered questions, fears, and apprehensions swirled.
 

Leap of faith
 

They were told they could opt for “selective reduction,” Elisa Ewing explained — they could eliminate the ones they didn’t want.
 

“Look at these beautiful babies,” Anthony Ewing said as he held two in his lap nine days after the last had been released. “How could we give this up?”
 

Anthony Ewing also explained that if they had chosen the reduction they probably would have lost the girls “because they were at the bottom.”
 

Additionally, they both said that doing so would have jeopardized the other babies’ health, that there were risks involved either way.
 

“This decision was very hard. Financially it is a hard task — but getting rid of them is not what we should do,” she said. “It’s not our faith. We don’t believe God would want us to do that and we were called to be faithful to God and our faith.”
 

Faith tested
 

Elisa Ewing had planned to work throughout her pregnancy, returning again soon after delivery. Anthony Ewing had planned to continue with his career. But it didn’t work that way for them.
 

“I started hemorrhaging at nine weeks,” Elisa Ewing said. “I was put on bed rest at 12 weeks and couldn’t work anymore. This wasn’t part of the plan.”
 

Elisa Ewing said that even though her husband really enjoys working for Alan Jay as a salesman, he made a huge sacrifice when he switched career paths.
 

“He had the career of his dreams, traveling the country, Canada and Mexico with different racing companies, rubbing elbows with lots of famous racing people and celebrities,” she said. “But he had to give all that up to be here for me and the babies.”
 

These unforeseen events have left the Ewings uncertain about how they will provide for their miracle babies. Currently, Elisa Ewing said that they were borrowing a van to get them to and from the doctor for weekly appointments. But she knows that any day it will need to be returned.
 

They have had a good deal of help and support from family and friends, their church (St. Catherine Catholic Church in Sebring), other churches and organizations, and some local merchants, for which they are very grateful.
 

For Elisa Ewing, being dependent upon others is difficult.
 

“I want to be self-sufficient and go back to work,” she said. “I’m used to helping others, doing home health visits with the elderly and helping them find the resources they needed. Now I know what they feel like. It’s hard to ask for help and accept it. It’s humbling.”
 

The truth is, however, that with four tiny mouths to feed and care for, the Ewing family could use more community support.
 

Anyone who would like to see the quads, learn more about the Ewing family, or offer any help or support, can go to the Web site www.ewingquads.com