Two more sextuplets to go home today

Two more of Florida's first sextuplets, MacKenzie Margaret and Eli Benjamin, are scheduled to go home this afternoon.

Ben and Karoline Byler were to show up at All Children's Hospital about 2 p.m. to pick up the babies. They will join Brady Christopher, who went to the family's Wesley Chapel home Oct. 18. Karoline said Brady is thriving at home. "He sleeps about two to three hours at a stretch depending on how tired he is and how much he ate," she said. He prefers the bottle, but she tries to nurse him at least a couple of times a day.

Karoline said MacKenzie and Eli had mastered the ability to drink from bottles, which is required before they are allowed to come home. Like Brady, they will also be hooked up to monitors equipped with alarms if they stop breathing momentarily.

The babies, five boys and a girl, were delivered by caesarean section Sept. 1 at Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg. The remaining babies, Ryan Patrick and Jackson Robert, were listed in fair condition, while Charlie Craig remained in serious condition, according to the hospital Web site.

-Lisa Buie, Times staff writer