(WRIC/ABC) — An Army captain on deployment from South Korea came home to meet his newborn quadruplets for the first time.
Army Captain Anthony Burch arrived home Thursday to spend time with his wife, Mary Pat, who gave birth to the foursome — Henry, Molly, Nathaniel, and Samuel — last Sunday. The couple already has a daughter, Alice, who’s nearly 2-years-old.
Although Burch wasn’t able to make it in person for the delivery, he witnessed the birth via FaceTime.
“He could see the babies as they were taken to the warmers and he got the rundown on how they were doing and how much they weighed,” said his wife.
“I was very grateful because once we figured out I wasn’t going to be back in time — I was just grateful to be able to witness firsthand that they were healthy and safe and that my wife was healthy and safe,” he added.
The new parents originally thought they were going to have triplets. An ultrasound later found out they were expecting four babies.
“We wanted a big family, but we thought we’d be able to spread it out more,” said Mary Pat. “Instead, we got an instant upgrade.”
Though Anthony arrived home Thursday, he waited until the next morning to surprise his daughter Alice.
“We waited until the morning when we would normally wake her up. Instead of her mother going in to get her, it was me. It was tough because all night long I was just thinking about going in there and waking her up,” he said. “She was so excited.”
The quadruplets remained in the neonatal intensive care unit at AMITA Adventist Medical Center in Hinsdale, Illinois, on Saturday. The couple said the babies will spend a couple of weeks in the NICU to gain strength, but they were doing phenomenally well.
Anthony plans to spend the next two weeks of his paternity leave visiting with the new additions to his family. The couple said they would be taking the quadruplets out of the NICU on Saturday to be baptized.
Mary Pat and the babies plan to stay in Tinley Park with her parents until Anthony returns from South Korea in the summer.
