Ogden quadruplets now home as family gets welcome boost


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OGDEN — If it takes a village to raise a child as the proverb says, then an Ogden family appears to be in good hands with its quadruplets, who are now home from the hospital.

Monica Duenas and her husband, Juan Valencia, experienced the miracle of birth times four when Belen, Monserrat, Ander and Jesualdo were delivered by cesarean section at McKay-Dee Hospital March 3 at 28 weeks.

On Monday, Clearfield-based Lifetime Products, Inc. — Valencia’s employer — delivered a box truck full of donated diapers, formula, clothes, toys and other goods from Lifetime’s departments and Valencia’s co-workers to the family’s carport in Ogden.

“We just kind of followed the pregnancy and when it was getting closer, everyone kept asking, ‘What can we do?’” said Denise Wandling, Lifetime’s executive vice president of human resources.

Wandling said the company, which manufactures everything from outdoor storage sheds to basketball hoops to playgrounds, initially decided to fill one of its sheds with donated goods and ultimately ended up with much more to give to the family.

“We have close to 2,000 employees, and this is what they came together and did,” Wandling said. “Everyone does feel like they’re part of a family, and this is just families helping families."

Valencia and Duenas were obviously touched by the offerings, hugging co-workers and wiping away tears.

“I want to say thank you to all the people out there that helped — donations, prayers, from the smallest thing to whatever they have done for us,” Duenas said. “We’re blessed for sure.”

As for the quadruplets, they appeared to be resting comfortably in their room Monday afternoon.

Duenas said every three hours marks a cycle of feeding the babies, changing their diapers and watching their monitors.

“I was really nervous because they’re still on oxygen and their monitors,” Duenas said.

She said the quadruplets were likely to remain on oxygen for the next 6-8 weeks.

“It’s tough, it’s not easy, but you know, like I said, we’ve got everything, we know how to do everything just the way they taught us,” Duenas said.

Duenas said the family is still looking for more help as they face rearing four babies at once, in addition to their 5-year-old twins and 16-year-old daughter, and they’re also looking for a larger family vehicle.

The couple has set up a GoFundMe* page in hopes of reaching their goals.

*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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