BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jennifer Furber of Hebron, Ky., didn't expect the birth of her ''little pumpkins'' to become a media event.
But there they were - an entourage of reporters, a television camera and a newspaper photographer tagging along Thursday to witness a proud and thankful new mother holding her babies for the first time.
Mrs. Furber didn't seem to mind. She knew how extremely lucky she was even to have babies to hold. But there they were - two premature, but otherwise healthy little babies, decked out in tiny orange-and-black Halloween outfits.
Doctors at Good Samaritan Hospital say the Furber babies, Jahnae and Christopher, will be heralded in medical journals as miracle babies.
Why? The babies were born 102 days after Mrs. Furber went into premature labor, making this the third-longest ''delayed delivery'' recorded in medical literature. Not just in the United States, but anywhere, said Dr. William Polzin, a perinatalogist at Good Samaritan.
The roots of this story stretch back to July. After six years of trying to have children, Jennifer and Court Furber decided to try infertility treatments. The process worked. Ultrasound tests revealed that the Furbers were going to have triplets.
But 18 weeks into the pregnancy, tragedy struck. The developing triplets were stretching Mrs. Furber's uterus so fast that it caused her cervix to dilate, a condition doctors call an ''incompetent cervix.''
Normally, the cervix dilates only after the contractions of true labor begin, Dr. Polzin said.
There was nothing doctors could do to prevent Mrs. Furber's first baby, Noah, from being born. And there was nothing medical science could do to save Noah, born far too early to survive.
In fact, doctors held out little hope for saving the remaining two triplets. ''Almost always with multiple gestations, once one baby delivers they all deliver,'' Dr. Polzin said.
Yet doctors were able to stop Mrs. Furber's contractions. Then they surgically closed her cervix to keep the babies inside for as long as possible.
Without the procedure, the babies faced near-certain death. Even with the procedure, Dr. Polzin told Mrs. Furber, the babies' chances of survival were less than 50 percent. The risks of infection or another round of premature labor were high.
Mrs. Furber spent nearly 11 weeks in the hospital on strict bed rest, taking anti-contraction drugs, antibiotics and steroids to help the babies' lungs develop. Then she spent another month at home, still under bed rest orders.
It was three weeks after surgery before Dr. Polzin dared to say he was ''cautiously optimistic'' about the case. It was six weeks until the babies aged enough to have a 50-50 chance of survival outside the womb.
Normal pregnancies last 40 weeks. Few survive birth before 24 weeks. Triplets typically are born around 33 to 34 weeks.
''I knew each day they stayed in me was better for them - but I'll be honest, I was ready. After all that waiting, I was ready,'' Mrs. Furber said.
As if the roller coaster ride of premature labor wasn't enough, the final delivery of the Furber babies came with complications. Several hours into labor, Christopher went into ''fetal distress,'' his heartbeat dipping to an alarmingly slow rate.
Doctors delivered the babies via emergency C-section. At 3:30 a.m. Thursday, Jahnae was born at 4 pounds, 11 ounces. A few minutes later, Christopher was born at 3 pounds, 9 ounces.
After such a rocky pregnancy, the babies are fine. They will remain in intensive care at Good Samaritan for about three weeks until they grow to a safer weight, but they are expected to have no major medical problems.
After three months of tricks, Mrs. Furber thanked God for giving her the ultimate Halloween treat.
''I made it 33 weeks and one day, and now I have my little pumpkins,'' she said. ''I feel great!''
