Members Colleen and Richard Whiteman were featured in an article in the Weekend, December 25-26, 1999 Burbank Leader. The following is the article in its entirety.

HOME 4 THE HOLIDAYS - THE WHITEMAN QUADRUPLETS CELEBRATE THEIR FIRST CHRISTMAS IN A CONSTRUCTION ZONE, BUT DON'T SEEM TO MIND
By Leslie Simmons, Photo by Jill Karnicki

Colleen and Richard Whiteman are learning that two is enough. To start, anyway.

On Saturday, Garrett and Chad, two of the Whiteman's quadruplets, spent their first night at home after almost three months in the hospital.

The tiny babies are settling in just fine, their parents said.

"We're handling the two pretty well," Colleen Whiteman said Tuesday. "After the other two come home, then I'll be asking myself, 'How am I going to do this?'"

The quadruplets were born more than two months premature on August 26, 1999, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Valley Presbyterian Hospital.

At birth, the quads' combined weight was just over 9 pounds. Since then, each of the babies has gained at least 3 pounds, Whiteman said.

For the Whitemans, having quadruplets has been an emotional roller coaster.

The definition of a 'preemie' is laughter and heartache," Richard Whiteman said. "The first two weeks were the the worst. They'd look good one day and the next day they looked horrible - especially with Cole.

"We thought we were going to love him," he added.

Like his siblings, though, Cole made it through the critical period and soon will be coming home. Kathryn, the lone girl of the four, is expected to be released today and Cole, whose real name is Terry, could come home this weekend.

Whiteman, 39, became pregnant with the quadruplets after undergoing in vitro fertilization, a process in which eggs are fertilized by sperm in a petri dish, then implanted in the uterus. Five embryos were implanted. One didn't survive.

She and Richard, who is 60, decided to try the procedure after failed attempts at getting pregnant. The couple wanted to give their foster son, who they declined to name because of adoption proceedings, a sibling.

Now the Whitemans have six children to care for - including Colleen's 11 year old daughter, Bianca - and already have started working to accommodate their growing family by adding a second story to their home.

They still have one problem though: The family van only seats seven.