When babies come in fours, parish help is welcome

"I have never seen a parish so willing to help out," Karen Cusato says. "It has been absolutely amazing."

And, boy -- and boy and girl and girl -- does she need the help! Mrs. Cusato gave birth to quadruplets in January.

Parishioners at St. Gabriel the Archangel parish in Rotterdam rallied around the couple, the four new infants and their two older siblings, not only after their birth but also for several months leading up to it.

Pastor's influence

The new mother gives credit for that attention to St. Gabriel's pastor, Rev. Leo Markert.

"He has been just wonderful to us," she told The Evangelist. "From the minute my husband Patrick and I told him our good news, he has been right there for us. He is such a caring person."

The Cusatos discovered they were going to have quadruplets in early October. They asked Father Markert for his prayers, and he took their request to the entire parish by way of an announcement at weekend Masses.

The couple had been given the option of "selective reduction," which means aborting one or more of the babies, according to Mrs. Cusato. They were told that if they did so, it would increase the odds of a healthier pregnancy and delivery.

"We decided that we would go ahead with the pregnancy, just as it was," she said. "In our hearts, we knew that was the only way, that God had given us the gift of this pregnancy, and we wanted to keep it just as it was."

Parish prayers

Father Markert said, "I admired her faith [in deciding to keep all four babies]. We started praying for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery of the babies during the Prayers of the Faithful" every weekend.

Mrs. Cusato noted that parishioners responded to the pastor's request for prayer in other ways as well.

For example, "they formed a prayer chain, and the women's and men's groups were praying for our babies," she said.

Pitching in

In January, the parishioners posted lists at the back of the church, asking for volunteers to cook meals for the family and to help with feeding the four new babies when they came home from the hospital.

"This has been completely amazing," Mrs. Cusato said. "We have had home-cooked dinners every night since then. Not only are people cooking for us, but they also ask us what we would like to eat before they cook it. These are people we didn't even know before the children were born."

Volunteers also visit day and night to help with the myriad details involved in caring for four newborns: every-two-hour feedings, holding and rocking the babies, and caring for the other Cusato children: Francesca, five, and Anthony, four.

Some volunteers have offered to do housework and shopping, and a registered nurse, who is the mother of three youngsters, stayed overnight to feed all the babies, so both parents could get uninterrupted sleep.

Teens, too

"Parishioners gave me a list of people to call whenever I need some help," Mrs. Cusato said. In addition, "our family has become this year's Confirmation community service project."

That means that the ten teens getting ready for Confirmation will help to feed the babies and care for their older siblings as their service project.

"Everyone has been so wonderful," Mrs. Cusato said. "It has been amazing to me to have so many people praying for us when they didn't even know us. Our entire family is thankful for the kindness, prayers, help and generosity of our parish family. People have given us gifts of their time and support. We will never forget any of it."

(The Cusato quads were each born one minute apart, at 8:34, 8:35, 8:36 and 8:37 a.m., on Jan. 26. Their names and birth weights are Robert, 3 lbs. 12 ozs.; William, 4 lbs. 2 ozs.; Gabriella, 4 lbs. 8 ozs.; and Victoria, 4 lbs. 10 ozs. They were born six weeks prematurely. St. Gabriel's parish in Rotterdam is holding a baby shower for the Cusato quadruplets on April 3, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Call 355-6600.)

(3/18/04) [[In-content Ad]]