(I got this book for free from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program in exchange for this review.)

This memoir tells the story, day-by-day and almost hour-by-hour, of Timothy Spillane's daughter's pregnancy and the birth of VERY premature (24 weeks) quadruplets, up until their release from the hospital months later. All four of the quads survived against the odds, albeit with varying degrees of disability. The memoir is incredibly detailed; I'm not sure how the author can remember it all so clearly. Probably the family's voluminous email correspondence they kept during this time helped refresh his memory. At the beginning the story skips around some (between Anne's pregnancy, and after the birth of the quads, and also Spillane's memories of Anne and her twin sister's six-weeks-premature birth 30 years before) and it's kind of jarring, but that's really the only fault I can find in the book. There is a very strong Christian theme throughout, but not strong enough to annoy this atheist.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is either affected by premature birth themselves, or wants to know what it's like. I didn't know squat about premature birth before I read this and I think I learned a lot. ( )

"Four Before Their Time" is a poignant memoir, a grandfather's story of his four grandchildren's journey through the NICU after being born very prematurely. The author recounts the family's time there, and the serious challenges the quadruplets faced. Engagingly written, with strong Christian themes throughout. ( )

I'll admit I put off reading my advance review copy of this book for a long time because I worried it would just be too sad. I finally bit the bullet, and while it was sad in parts, it was also hopeful, uplifting, and interesting.

I choose this book because it has uncanny parallels with our family's experience. Like the author's daughter, my daughter-in-law, also an Army doctor, gave birth to an extremely tiny little boy in her 26th week of pregnancy. Our grandson (only one) was born 24 hours later by Cesarean at 26 weeks weighing a robust 2 lbs.

My husband and I along with our three other son, had a harrowing drive from NYC to Washington. I will always remember that we got the news that mother and child had come through the surgery as we were passing the southernmost Rest Stop on the Jersey.

The author put into words so much of what we felt, and the frighteningly beautiful story of their family's survival and growth, was in some ways our own.

Miracles are so rare, and yet they happen everyday. Timothy Spillane tells the story as it is: an "everyday miracle". He shares their pain, love, and strength, and their joy in welcoming these tiny little humans in this world, in a way that is utterly true to life.

It is easy in telling this kind of story to become overly maudlin - but that is never the case here.

In the end I wanted to reach through the pages and reassure the Spillane's - their "teeny-tinies" will be fine.

Timothy Spillane tells this story so well, I find my self a little bit jealous. He get's it right: so right ( )

Typically, I love this type of book - the inspirational story of someone overcoming great odds. This fell a little flat for me. Maybe because it is written from the point of view of the grandfather it lacked the emotional impact I usually get from this genre. I felt a stronger tug when he described his feelings of bringing Anne and Erin home than I did for most of Timmy, Edda, Lily and Wyatt. ( )