A milestone times four: Quadruplet sisters born on LI turn 40

The miracle babies took their initial breaths on May 3, 1979, as sisters who made history — the first quadruplets reportedly ever born on Long Island.

They were birthed by Caesarean section, only three minutes apart, beginning about 10 p.m. They weighed between 3 pounds, 8 ounces, and 4 pounds, 8 ounces. They didn’t have names yet; they were labeled at the Nassau County Medical Center as A, B, C and D.

In Ridge on Saturday, 40 years later, family members led the blindfolded sisters by hand to the Lake Panamoka Civic Association. Once inside, the siblings, Laura Stewart of Sound Beach; Christine Cereola and Barbara Tufano, both of Ridge; and Joanne Loviglio of upstate Valatie, stood shoulder-to-shoulder, smiling as they anxiously awaited removing the cover from their eyes.

And then the moment came — about 75 family and friends shouted “Surprise!”

The sisters laughed and hugged relatives, and Barbara Tufano — the “sensitive one,” as she later called herself — cried while they celebrated their milestone birthday.

“I’m just overwhelmed by everybody that was here,” she said. “People I haven’t seen in a long time were here. And just like, turning 40 and not having our mom here, you know, it’s like, the one missing is her. But it’s just like overwhelming the amount of love that was in that room when we uncovered our eyes.”

The siblings’ mother, Timi, died from health complications in 2016 at age 69, the sisters said.

But on Saturday, 40 years and one day after they beat the odds at birth, the sisters recalled how they grew up in Ridge and were known as “The Quads.” They said they’ve been inseparable ever since.

“I was not happy about turning 40,” Stewart said. “But I was happy we were doing it together. We always have something to fall back on, and to lean on. I couldn’t imagine ever doing anything by myself because we’ve always done everything together.”

‘It was a miracle’

The women’s father, Joseph Tufano, 71, of Poland, Maine, remembered the night his daughters were born. His father in-law called him at about 9 p.m. He said doctors decided “they’re going to take the babies now,” Tufano said Saturday. The girls were three weeks premature.

His then-wife had been at the hospital for weeks. Tufano was watching a playoff hockey game between the Rangers, his favorite team, and the Islanders.

Tufano had to ditch the game. He jumped into his Chevrolet Malibu and raced to the hospital. His wife expected four boys because of the way she was carrying, Tufano said. When asked if she was carrying high or low, he said with a laugh, “She was carrying all over.”

At the neonatal intensive care unit, a doctor told Tufano, “Congratulations. There are nine babies in here and half of them are yours.”

On Saturday, Tufano couldn’t help but reflect. “It was a miracle then, it really was,” he said. "Forty years later, I couldn’t be happier how they turned out. They are all very loving and caring.”

Barbara Tufano was the first to come home from the hospital, three weeks after her birth, relatives said. Stewart and Cereola came home four days later. And Loviglio, who called herself the “runt” at 3 pounds and 8 ounces, arrived home last, on June 20, 1979, their relatives said.

David Tufano, 44, of Ridge, the women’s older brother, remembered his sisters’ arrival.

“They were just babies coming through the door. They kept coming,” he said.

‘Every year is a milestone’

The sisters celebrated milestones together, decade after decade. They walked onstage together during graduation from Longwood High School. They attended Suffolk County Community College together. Three of the sisters got married. They all have children.

Cereola works as a Spanish teacher at Brentwood High School, and Loviglio is a former special-education teacher and now a stay-at-home mom, as is Stewart, who has three children. Barbara Tufano is a supervisor at a treatment center for troubled children.

On Saturday, she recalled her own story of childbirth, to her now-teen son. Her sisters were in the delivery room, as was her mother. “Unfortunately, Joanne [Loviglio] fainted,” Tufano said.

Loviglio chimed in: “I felt bad she was in so much pain, so I must have held my breath.”

Cereola said she loved growing up as a quadruplet. “It’s awesome. A newspaper article says ‘Quadruplets believed to be Long Island’s first.’ We have that article. It’s amazing,” she said, referencing a Newsday headline.

The sisters on Saturday night were constantly laughing with each other, and at each other’s expense. Often, one would talk, another would interrupt, and then together they finished the first sister’s thought.

They said things like that happen all the time.

When asked which milestone they will next celebrate together, Tufano said, “Every year is a milestone. Fifty will be the big one.”

Her sisters groaned. Then they all said in unison, “60, 70, 80, 90.”

But Loviglio got the last word: “We’re going to live to 100.”