The Region : Surviving Septuplets Show Daily Gains

The three surviving Frustaci septuplets continue to show small daily improvements, although they each still weigh less than two pounds, a Childrens Hospital of Orange County spokeswoman said. “They’re still doing fine and plugging away,” said Laura Johnson. Four boys and three girls were born by Caesarean section three weeks ago at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange to Patti and Sam Frustaci of Riverside. The mother, a high school English teacher, had taken fertility drugs. The seventh baby, a girl, was stillborn. Two boys and one girl died later of hyaline membrane disease, a lung affliction that the surviving septuplets still have but are fighting off, Johnson said. The three remain on ventilators, to help them breathe, in the neonatal intensive care unit at Childrens Hospital.