Donations pouring in for quads

Thirty weeks and holding.

That was the news Tuesday as Darah and Joe Shatswell waited at Renown Regional Medical Center for the birth of their quadruplets.

"They're doing well right now, so we're leaving them put," the 22-year-old father said.

He's awaiting his own deadline, home on leave for the babies' births before he returns to Afghanistan where he serves in the infantry as an Army specialist.

Darah Shatswell, 24, passed the 30-week mark Tuesday, and every day she remains pregnant, the babies gain ground.

She said doctors had hoped the three girls and one boy would weigh three pounds each when they are born.

The Shatswells returned to Gardnerville from Fort Hood, Texas, this summer so Darah and their 2-year-old daughter Zowie could live with her family while Joe Shatswell is in Afghanistan.

He is deployed until July 2009.

The Shatswells named the identical twin girls Rory and Kaylee and fraternal twins Myleigh and Joseph Jr.

The quadruplets were conceived without the use of fertility drugs, a one in a million occurrence.

People across Northern Nevada have responded with donations of disposable diapers, baby wipes, clothing, car seats, blankets and other items that babies need.

Grandmother Pam Fredline has turned the master bedroom of her Gardnerville Ranchos home into a nursery for the quadruplets until Joe Shatswell returns from Afghanistan.

Today, radio station K-BULL 98.1 is collecting donations in Reno to benefit the family. The Woody and Paula Wake Up is to air their morning show from the Super Walmart on Kietzke Lane.

Walmart is kicking off the event with the donation of 50 $10 gift cards to the first 50 people who donate. They're also donating a baby crib to the "K-BULL Baby Brigade." Coffee will be provided.

Information, Derek Gunn at (775) 325-9113.