Multiple mum

LOS ANGELES — Angela Magdaleno's husband wanted many children — she just didn't know that they were going to have this many.

Magdaleno, who had triplets three years ago, gave birth to quadruplets on July 6 by Caesarean section in what doctors said was a rare occurrence of multiple births. Though she used fertility drugs with the triplets, she didn't with the quadruplets.

The latest additions — two girls and two boys — were doing well Wednesday, while their mother, resting at home, said: "I'm happy because they're healthy and so am I."

Still, Magdaleno, 40, worried she might be overwhelmed with the work and sometimes struggles with mixed emotions about the future. She has two older daughters, too.

"I don't know if I'm sad or happy," she said. "I'm happy but, I don't know. I don't know how to explain it."

Three years ago, Magdaleno gave birth to the triplets after undergoing in vitro fertilization. She said her husband wanted many children. After their birth, she thought she was done having babies.

Then she got pregnant with the quadruplets. Magdaleno said she was shocked at the news.

"She wanted to run," said her husband, Afredo Anzaldo, 45, who lays carpet for a living.

Kathryn Shaw, holds a set of quadruplets, two boys and two girls, born to Angela Magdaleno, at the White Memorial Medical Center in the east area of Los Angeles Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Doctor Shaw led the team that delivered the quadruplets, on July 6. With fertility drugs, Magdaleno had triplets three years ago. Last week, she had quadruplets, without fertility drugs. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)

Her doctor, Kathryn Shaw, a high-risk pregnancy specialist, said Magdaleno did well during the pregnancy and developed no complications.

The babies were born at 32 weeks — well beyond the 29-week average for quadruplets. At birth, the girls were 4 pounds and 17 and 17.5 inches long; the boys about 3.5 pounds and 16 inches long.

Shaw said the odds of conceiving quadruplets without fertility drugs are about one in 800,000. She's seen only one other case of quadruplets being conceived without drugs — 18 years ago.

Even more rare, the boys appear to be identical twins, according to their doctor, Soha Idriss, who expects the babies will join their mother at home in about eight weeks.

As of Wednesday, their parents were still deciding what to name them.