Good luck Josh!!!
This family lives at the other end of the alley from me.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/60504/news/fv0805quint.htm
This family lives at the other end of the alley from me.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/60504/news/fv0805quint.htm
Dad goes to Iraq as family prepares for quintuplets
By Mike Cetera
sun news services
They are known as The Horton Five.
In grainy black-and-white photos, they are identified by letter: A, B, C, D and E.
This group, now just a curiosity, could make its world debut in a matter of months as a headliner, for this act is extraordinarily rare.
And the story behind the story is equally unusual.
The first ultrasound pictures taken this spring confirmed for Taunacy Horton of Oswego what experts had cautioned could happen when using fertility drugs. Doctors discovered two, possibly three growing babies inside.
A second ultrasound found four heartbeats. A third confirmed a fifth child.
Shock set in for Horton, a mother of two who had dreamed of having a large family. Yet she was overwhelmed at the prospect of having five children at once.
"When she told me that there were five, it was sort of a bittersweet moment," family friend Chelsea Fife said. "That is a huge calling to have to be a mother of five all at once."
So huge that doctors warn there is a risk not all of the children will live, and those who do could face physical and mental challenges for years to come.
It is a feat rare enough that the hospital where Horton will have her children has never before delivered five babies at once.
Of the more than 4 million women who give birth annually in the United States, only a handful produce multiple children. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that in 2002, the most recent year for which data is available, 69 women gave birth to five or more children at once. (An Oswego woman recently gave birth to four children; 434 mothers gave birth to quadruplets in 2002.)
This has become a tough blessing for the Horton family, who have relied on their faith and the generosity of their church community to cope with the future.
"Faith gets me up every day," Horton said.
What's more, there's something missing in the Horton household. Josh Horton, Taunacy's husband, is headed to Iraq after signing up in April for two more years as a Marine reservist.
He received his orders June 1, just as the family was coming to terms with the challenges that lie ahead. Horton, an Aurora police officer, was offered the chance to stay behind after the federal government learned he was to be the father of five.
He declined.
"He wanted to go because there's been other fathers over there who haven't seen their kids for a year or two," said Aurora police officer Liz Robinson, Horton's partner. "He wanted to give them a chance to be with their kids."
Josh Horton, a five-year department veteran, will return home this month from Camp Pendleton, Calif., before leaving several days later for Iraq, where his infantry unit is expected to relieve other soldiers.
"From his heart of hearts, he feels this is what he needs to do," Taunacy Horton said. "At least I've had time to kind of work through it a little bit."
A military marriage
Josh and Taunacy Horton married eight years ago while both were serving in the armed forces. They met at a Maryland military base, where Taunacy was a corpsman in the Navy; Josh was a Marine. A year after they married, Taunacy gave birth to the couple's first child, Sean. Daughter Shaleigh was born two years later. Both parents left active duty in 1999, and Josh Horton became a police officer in Aurora, where he grew up. Horton is a 1994 graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School. The family eventually settled into a home in Oswego, one that will be too small for the new additions.
Both parents, now 28, decided to have a third child. No one expected what would happen.
Now 15 weeks into her pregnancy, Horton said she has in some respects had fewer problems than with her other pregnancies. The main difference, as she sees it, is how tired she gets each day.
But the Hortons have been told to expect challenges. Doctors said she didn't have to carry all five children if she didn't want to.
"I thought, 'He (God) sent all five, and I've got to give them a chance,'" Taunacy Horton said.
Nobody expects this mother to reach full term with her babies. She anticipates entering Edward Hospital in Naperville at 24 weeks, where she will be put on bed rest. She hopes to give birth no earlier than 28 to 30 weeks into her pregnancy.
A helping hand
The Hortons have a dependable network of well-wishers surrounding them, including the Police Department and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where they belong to the Oswego ward.
The church has a built-in support system, with members assigned to visit the Horton home, and some churchgoers have begun reaching out into the community seeking financial support for the family, Bishop Dean Fisher and others said. One company has already promised to offer continuing financial aid once the children are born.
Some police officers also plan to pitch in, offering baby-sitting services and doing chores around the house. But the Hortons' financial and emotional obligations still will be great.
Friends say they're looking for more corporate and individual help, and a bank account has been opened to help support the babies once they are born.
"Everybody kind of has the same response," said Fife, the family friend. "Oh, my gosh, what do you need?"
08/05/04
By Mike Cetera
sun news services
They are known as The Horton Five.
In grainy black-and-white photos, they are identified by letter: A, B, C, D and E.
This group, now just a curiosity, could make its world debut in a matter of months as a headliner, for this act is extraordinarily rare.
And the story behind the story is equally unusual.
The first ultrasound pictures taken this spring confirmed for Taunacy Horton of Oswego what experts had cautioned could happen when using fertility drugs. Doctors discovered two, possibly three growing babies inside.
A second ultrasound found four heartbeats. A third confirmed a fifth child.
Shock set in for Horton, a mother of two who had dreamed of having a large family. Yet she was overwhelmed at the prospect of having five children at once.
"When she told me that there were five, it was sort of a bittersweet moment," family friend Chelsea Fife said. "That is a huge calling to have to be a mother of five all at once."
So huge that doctors warn there is a risk not all of the children will live, and those who do could face physical and mental challenges for years to come.
It is a feat rare enough that the hospital where Horton will have her children has never before delivered five babies at once.
Of the more than 4 million women who give birth annually in the United States, only a handful produce multiple children. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that in 2002, the most recent year for which data is available, 69 women gave birth to five or more children at once. (An Oswego woman recently gave birth to four children; 434 mothers gave birth to quadruplets in 2002.)
This has become a tough blessing for the Horton family, who have relied on their faith and the generosity of their church community to cope with the future.
"Faith gets me up every day," Horton said.
What's more, there's something missing in the Horton household. Josh Horton, Taunacy's husband, is headed to Iraq after signing up in April for two more years as a Marine reservist.
He received his orders June 1, just as the family was coming to terms with the challenges that lie ahead. Horton, an Aurora police officer, was offered the chance to stay behind after the federal government learned he was to be the father of five.
He declined.
"He wanted to go because there's been other fathers over there who haven't seen their kids for a year or two," said Aurora police officer Liz Robinson, Horton's partner. "He wanted to give them a chance to be with their kids."
Josh Horton, a five-year department veteran, will return home this month from Camp Pendleton, Calif., before leaving several days later for Iraq, where his infantry unit is expected to relieve other soldiers.
"From his heart of hearts, he feels this is what he needs to do," Taunacy Horton said. "At least I've had time to kind of work through it a little bit."
A military marriage
Josh and Taunacy Horton married eight years ago while both were serving in the armed forces. They met at a Maryland military base, where Taunacy was a corpsman in the Navy; Josh was a Marine. A year after they married, Taunacy gave birth to the couple's first child, Sean. Daughter Shaleigh was born two years later. Both parents left active duty in 1999, and Josh Horton became a police officer in Aurora, where he grew up. Horton is a 1994 graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School. The family eventually settled into a home in Oswego, one that will be too small for the new additions.
Both parents, now 28, decided to have a third child. No one expected what would happen.
Now 15 weeks into her pregnancy, Horton said she has in some respects had fewer problems than with her other pregnancies. The main difference, as she sees it, is how tired she gets each day.
But the Hortons have been told to expect challenges. Doctors said she didn't have to carry all five children if she didn't want to.
"I thought, 'He (God) sent all five, and I've got to give them a chance,'" Taunacy Horton said.
Nobody expects this mother to reach full term with her babies. She anticipates entering Edward Hospital in Naperville at 24 weeks, where she will be put on bed rest. She hopes to give birth no earlier than 28 to 30 weeks into her pregnancy.
A helping hand
The Hortons have a dependable network of well-wishers surrounding them, including the Police Department and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where they belong to the Oswego ward.
The church has a built-in support system, with members assigned to visit the Horton home, and some churchgoers have begun reaching out into the community seeking financial support for the family, Bishop Dean Fisher and others said. One company has already promised to offer continuing financial aid once the children are born.
Some police officers also plan to pitch in, offering baby-sitting services and doing chores around the house. But the Hortons' financial and emotional obligations still will be great.
Friends say they're looking for more corporate and individual help, and a bank account has been opened to help support the babies once they are born.
"Everybody kind of has the same response," said Fife, the family friend. "Oh, my gosh, what do you need?"
08/05/04
