Ericsson quadruplets ready to mark 16 years together

These four "Sweet Sixteens" were the first quads born at St. Elizabeth Hospital.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- The Ericsson quadruplets -- Brandon, Bryan, Brianneand Brad -- are as individual as they can be, having gone through the same things at the same time all of their lives.
They quit wearing matching outfits after kindergarten, and while they have much in common, they have different personalities and interests, their mother, Janet Ericsson, says.
The quads, who will turn 16 Tuesday, entered the world on Nov. 29, 1989, the day after Thanksgiving. They were the first set of quadruplets ever born at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown.
They each had a medical team -- a doctor, a nurse and a respiratory therapist -- to take care of them. And as they arrived, they were whisked off to rooms of their own.
Donna Chiarelli of Poland, a neonatology nurse at St. Elizabeth for 26 years, vividly remembers the quads' births.
"It was amazing and exciting to be part of the team and see four babies delivered and cared for at the same time," Chiarelli said.
The doctors said "It's a boy" three times before Brianne arrived. Their mother, who was awake during the cesarean births, remembers saying: "I finally got my girl."
The quads are not alone in the Ericsson household at 521 Oakridge Drive. There are three other boys: Brett, 17, a senior at Cardinal Mooney High School, and Scott, 12, and Tyler, 11, in the sixth and fifth grades, respectively, at St. Charles School.
School activities
The quads are sophomores at Mooney, where the boys play football and Brianne is a member of the volleyball team.
Interviewed last Friday afternoon, the boys had already practiced that day in preparation for the team's state semi-final playoff Division IV game Saturday night against Bellaire High School.
Brandon is a defensive tackle on the varsity squad, and Bryan and Brad are a guard and offensive tackle, respectively, on the junior varsity team.
Although their mother's work schedule prevents her from attending all of Mooney's games, she said she'll definitely be there if they make it to the finals.
A third-grade teacher at Youngstown city schools' Sheridan Elementary, Ericsson said sometimes the pressure of work and having so many children is tough. But hers are all good kids who are helpful.
"Brandon will do things on his own so I don't have to do them," she said.
The boys do the yard work, and Brianne helps by cooking and washing dishes. All of them help when they are asked, she said.
The quads are good students, and their teachers say they are well behaved at school, their mother said.
Future plans
Brianne, who her mom said is the "studious one," is in the honors program and has an "A" grade point average. She wants to become a pediatrician.
Bryan doesn't have his life "planned out yet," he said, adding, "I'm trying to figure it out as I go."
Brandon wants to go to college and get a good education and maybe do something in law enforcement.
Brad's goal is to graduate and go to college and "see what works out there."
Ericsson, no slouch academically herself, was valedictorian of the class of 1980 at Poland Seminary High School. After graduating, she received her nursing degree at Youngstown State University and worked in a doctor's office until she delivered the quads.
Volunteering as a teacher's aide rekindled her passion for education, and in 1998 she went back to YSU and earned a teaching degree in 2000. She plans to go back to school and get a degree in education administration, and eventually get a doctorate and teach at the college level.
Setting an example
Ericsson said she continues to go to school, despite her hectic schedule, to set an example for her children to never give up and always strive for the best.
And, she said, "I want to make sure my kids are taken care of."
She spent nearly three months in the hospital on bed rest before the quads were born. She came home Dec. 5, five days later, and the babies, who weighed between 3.1 and 3.3 pounds at birth, came home Christmas day.
Ericsson said a nurse helped with their care for awhile, and her mother, Margaret Halicki, and her sister, Margie Halicki, both of whom lived with her at the time, also helped. Her mother still lives with her.
"It was like an assembly line. We'd change them and feed them and try to get them down. All of them were colicky babies," she said.
But within six months, all were normal weight for their ages, and all of them walked before they were a year old.
Proud parent
Ericsson said she called The Vindicator about the quads' upcoming birthday because "I'm proud of them, and I want the world to know how well they have turned out."
The quads are proud of their mother too.
Brianne said they love her and know she sacrifices a lot to help them get a good education and provide a good home for them.
"She's tough sometimes," Brad said.
"With all of us, she sort of has to be," Brianne said.
Despite the sacrifices, Ericsson said she would do it again.
When she was pregnant with the quads, the doctors offered her the option of selective deduction because it was an extremely high-risk pregnancy. She chose to carry all four.
"I look now and wonder which one I would have eliminated if I had done that," she said.
Pros and cons
As for the quads, they see the positives and negatives of being quadruplets.
"You don't get a lot of privacy. You can't get rid of one another. We are in the same grade and in some of the same classes," Brad said.
Bryan, the philosophical one, says he doesn't see it as positive or negative.
"It just is. They are just like any other brothers and sister," he said.
"We're used to it," Brianne said.
"We always have someone to talk to who understands, because we are all the same age. If I wasn't part of a foursome, I'd feel like I was alone," she said.
"For us it is just normal. The three boys do almost every thing together and have the same friends. As a family, we like to go to the park and go fishing," Brad said.
As they turn 16, one more stage in their development is about to occur that will increase the traffic along U.S. Route 224: they are taking driver's education classes. And by early next year, they will all get their driver's licenses.
alcorn@vindy.com