Saturday, January 31, 2009

And With Octuplets You Get Fourteen!

Picture from Daily Mail (UK)Yeah... you read that correctly, the woman who was undergoing fertility treatments and delivered eight babies earlier this week in California, already had six children at home. Her oldest child is 7-years old.


CNN.com reports that the young woman is living at home with her parents - the story makes no mention of a husband - and her father is scheduled to return to Iraq soon (as a contractor).
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Excerpts from the CNN.com article:
The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that Angela Suleman said her daughter had the embryos implanted last year, resulting in the eight births.

"They all happened to take," Suleman told the Times. "I looked at those babies. They are so tiny and so beautiful."

The woman declined to have the number of embryos reduced when she discovered she was carrying multiples, the Times reported. The six older siblings range from ages 7 to 2, according to the newspaper.

Suleman said she was concerned about her daughter's homecoming because her husband, a contract worker, is due to return to Iraq.

In the meantime, the mother, who remains unidentified, appealed for privacy while she recovers from giving birth, medical officials said Thursday.

In her written statement delivered by Dr. Karen Maples of the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center in California, the woman who delivered eight babies in five minutes said she would soon make public the details of her "miraculous experience."

The six boys and two girls -- ranging in weight from 1 pound, 8 ounces to 3 pounds, 4 ounces -- are doing well following their Caesarean-section delivery at the Bellflower hospital, doctors said. They were born nine weeks premature.

Dr. Mandhir Gupta, a neonatalist, said all but one of the octuplets are now breathing on their own. That baby might be taken off breathing equipment Friday.

Caring for eight premature babies is a challenge. Duties are being shared by a large team of hospital nurses and doctors for the time being. Two nurses have been assigned to each child, and all the babies are receiving fluids, proteins and vitamins intravenously, Gupta said.

"We feed them. ... We change diapers. ... When they cry, we console them," Gupta said. "When the mom comes and touches the babies, you can definitely see their expression on their faces and body. They are very happy."

The babies, who are being referred to by letters of the alphabet, will remain in the hospital for at least seven more weeks.

Baby H made headlines for its surprise appearance during the delivery, which took months of preparation by a team of doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists. Watch a report on babies' progress »

The mother will not be able to hold her babies for another week, Gupta said. They are still fragile, developing intestines, he said.

Doctors initially thought the mother was pregnant with seven fetuses. She was hospitalized seven weeks ago and ordered to bed rest.

During the seven weeks, a team of 46 physicians, nurses and other staff members prepared for the births. When they started the delivery Monday, they were in for a surprise.


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Octuplets' Mother Update (02/01/2009): This woman is sick... and the doctors who are complicit in implanting more embryos in this woman should be barred from practicing medicine. Read the Yahoo News story here...

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plez sez: it ain't none of my business - i don't know why i felt compelled to post this in plezWorld - but why in the heck would a mother of six children be going through fertility treatments? and seeing as her youngest child is only two years old... what would make her think that she would need (...thoughts wander off aimlessly...).

...but FOURTEEN kids?!? all under the age of 10?!?

plezWorld throws a quick glance into his thinning wallet

not trying to be funny, but who is gonna pay to feed all them children?!?

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Read the CNN.com article about how the doctors were only expecting seven babies.

Read the CNN.com article about the octuplets.

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1 comment:

Hathor said...

The grandparents are supporting them. There is no father in the picture. Mother says her daughter has always had an obsession with having children. I think some one is using their daughter to rescue embryos.