Two of Nadia Suleman's octuplets haven't been cleared to go home yet. Suleman's new home must first be baby-proofed. Social workers say the gas company still must inspect the La Habra house. They also want carbon monoxide detectors installed before the first two octuplets are released. Suleman hired a baby-proofing service to handle some of the household issues.
Like so many in the farming town of CÂNDIDO GODÓI, Brazil, populated almost entirely by German-speaking immigrants, Derli Grimm, 19, believes that something is in the water — a mysterious mineral, perhaps — is responsible for the town’s unusual concentration of twins.
“It can’t all be explained by genetics,” said Mr. Grimm, himself a twin. Geneticists would like to disagree with him, but even they have no solid explanation for the 38 pairs of twins among about 80 families living in a one-and-a-half-square-mile area.
The mystery has persisted for decades, attracting international attention and inspiring books and investigations by geneticists. It is one reason locals are in no hurry to try to prove their water theory. They are too busy posing for journalists and marketing their town to tourists as the “twins capital of the world.”
Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets born last week in California, gave her first interview today to NBC News correspondent Ann Curry. The interview will air on Today and Dateline in coming days.
Suleman was released from the hospital early this morning, according to hospital officials. One of the Suleman's hastily hired publicists said she is staying at "an undisclosed location" while she considers offers including possible book and TV deals.
:: Octuplets mom gets TV, book offers...
:: Hires an agent...
:: Wants two million, Oprah and free diapers...
:: Obsessed with having children...
:: Was hoping for 'just one more girl'...
:: Longest surviving Octuplets in U.S. history...
:: Grandma: Enough!
:: Octuplet births raise questions...
:: Ethical issues...
How about this revelation about the Octuplets' mom: On CBS's The Early Show this morning, an acquaintance who didn't want to be identified told national correspondent Hattie Kauffman the mom has four older boys and two girls.
"She is young," the acquaintance says, "fairly young. She has six children already. And in those six children, she has a set of twins."
:: The nation's second set of live-born octuplets are all breathing on their own today, 48 hours after they were born in Southern California.
:: The mother of the octuplets saw her babies for the first time last night.
:: The father of the world's first set of octuplets born alive is offering the nation's newest eight-sibling family a preview of what they have to look forward to.
:: Some celebrity moms are offering reaction as well.
:: How do you breastfeed Octuplets?
:: Fertility experts are rattled.
A woman gave birth to eight babies in Southern California on Monday, the world's second live-born set of octuplets.
The babies, delivered within five minutes, were born Monday were "doing quite well," according to the hospital. The hospital says the mother gave birth to six girls and two boys weighing between 1.8 pounds and 3.4 pounds.
The first live-born octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, and one baby died about a week later. The surviving siblings — girls Ebuka, Gorom, Chidi, Chima and Echerem, and their brothers Ikem and Jioke — celebrated their 10th birthday in December.
Click here for video from KCAL in Los Angeles.
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:: Quad Born in 1947 Speaks About Losing Mother and All Three Siblings at Birth
One of the world's first surviving quads has broken a 60-year silence to talk about how she lost her mother and all three siblings at birth. Their mother delivered all four babies on October 12, 1947, after doctors told her she was expecting twins...
:: Speedy Delivery: Georgia Dad Ticketed On Way To Witness Wife Deliver Quads
A Gwinnett County man had to drive 450 miles -- in a hurry -- when he learned his wife was about to deliver quadruplets...Dad did make it for the birth and was grateful for help from OnStar, as well as some police escorts. He wasn't lucky in one state, however...
:: Gilbert Couple Proud Parents of Quadruplets
Kami and Jason Crisanti became parents of three girls and one boy through an emergency cesarean on Dec. 29 at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. Sophie, Kylie, Ellie and Elijah, whose weight ranged from 3 lbs 2 oz to 3 lbs 12 oz, will join 6-year-old sister Maya and 4-year-old brother Jace...
:: Sioux City Couple Proud Parents of Quadruplets
Jessica Malm knew there was a history of twins in her family as well as in her husband Kevin's family. But that didn't stop the Sioux City woman from "hyperventilating a little bit" after learning she would give birth to quadruplets...
A Detroit mother gave birth to twin boys on different days and in different months of different years.
Tangernika Woods and her husband welcomed their first twin, Tarrance, at 11:51 p.m., Wednesday, New Years Eve 2008. Their second twin, Tariq, made his entrance 26 minutes later at 12:17 a.m. Thursday, the first day of January 2009.
A mixed-race couple welcomes home their second set of incredibly rare twin daughters, one black and one white, defying the odds.
A set of quintuplets was born Saturday at Staten Island University Hospital, spokesman Christian Preston said. He said the four girls, one boy and their mother were doing well.
The local newspaper gave their names as Allesia Louise, Amanda Frances, Ella Lilliana, Emily Ann and Matthew Sabatino.
The federal government's National Center for Health Statistics tallied 68 quintuplet and higher-order births in 2005, compared to more than 400 quadruplets, 133,000 twins and 4.1 million births overall.
By Rachael
BBA Contributor, Mother of Triplets
Of course, breastfeeding isn't possible for everyone. Often it is an incredibly personal choice a new mother has to make and it is one that needs full support of family and friends. If you choose to go with formula for your multiples' early needs, there are a lot of wonderful benefits to doing so. But if breastfeeding your multiples is something that you would like to do, it can be done. In fact, I was successfully able to pump for/breastfeed my triplets for 14 ½ months.
After a lot of trial and error in the beginning, I realized some very important things…
1) Invest in a good quality pump, preferably a hospital grade pump. If you cannot afford to purchase a hospital grade pump, they are available to rent through your hospital or other locations such as medical device stores. They are often covered by insurance, so check with your carrier prior to renting or buying one.
2) Pump or nurse regularly (and avoid supplementing as best you can) in the beginning. If you nurse, do so on demand and put the babies to the breast each and every time they are hungry. It will likely be rough with constant feedings, but that is their way of increasing your milk production. If you stick with it, it will be over in a few days! If you pump, do so every 2-3 hours around the clock for the first few weeks, then every 2-3 hours during the day, with 4-5 hour stretches at night. Make sure you vary the times that you pump as well. The body operates on a supply and demand schedule, so the more you pump or nurse the more milk you will make.
3) A baby is far more effective at extracting milk from the breast than a pump, so put the babies to the breast as often as possible!
4) Drink plenty of liquids. Seriously, this is probably one of the most important things you can do. If you are dehydrated, logic would indicate that you will not be able to make as much liquid.
5) Eat plenty of calories. This is also one of the most important things you can do. Your body needs the energy provided by calories (and fat) to make the milk your babies need.
6) Get plenty of rest. I know, something that is so difficult in those first few months, but your body is working hard to make milk so you need to let it rest. Let things go (it is only temporary) and sleep when the babies are sleeping.
7) If someone offers to help, accept it! Let them come cuddle the babies while you get some shut eye or pitch in around the house. Whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of thinking you can do it all or you will be overwhelmed and exhausted in no time at all!
8) Preemies can nurse. Although it is usually a more difficult beginning, they will likely eventually get the hang of it around their original due date. Persistence is key! Keep putting your preemies to the breast, starting slowly at first and gradually adding in more sessions as they get stronger. Also, until your babies are nursing like pros, make sure that you pump after each nursing because it is likely that you will need to help stimulate your milk production.
9) Be willing to be flexible. There may come a time when you realize that your body just isn't able to produce enough milk for your growing babies' needs. If you reach that point, don't be discouraged. You can continue to pump and give your baby a mix of breast milk and formula.
10) If you decide to call it quits, there is no shame. Both you and your baby have to enjoy the experience for it to be worthwhile! It was a difficult road at first, and I was armed with a lot of inaccurate and misleading advice, but I stuck with it and the experience turned out to be quite fulfilling to me and my babies. In fact, when my babies stopped nursing and I returned my pump I was sad. It signaled the end of my babies being babies and their transformation into full-fledged toddlers.
Kate Gosselin, star of the reality series Jon and Kate Plus Eight, answered a few questions over at momtourage.com. Some of the topics include how she balances life, alone time and keeping eight kids on a healthy diet.
By Jennifer Jordan
BBA Contributor
With Triplets we've had to cut down on our spending. A LOT. It made no sense for me to return to work after having the babies; what I made would have ONLY paid for daycare for Triplets. Living off of one income is hard. Very hard. Money was always an issue, just not a big one. Two miscarriages, TONS of testing, five months of fertility treatments, triplets and one income later, it matters now more than anything.
The two miscarriages and fertility treatments really racked up our bills. While looking into how to cut our costs, I found out Going Green was the way to go. We chose to cloth diaper our triplets and, luckily, I already had most of our cloth diapers.
I was so overwhelmed when they came home (after 38 LONG days in the NICU) I just couldn't deal with cloth diapers. Then my husband ran to the store at about 8:45 at night (and everything in our small town closes at nine) and spent about $50 on diapers. They lasted less than a week. That was it. I wasn't going to throw away that kind of money. We cloth diapered from then on and are still going strong. With the help of my mother, we spent about $600-800 on diapers and they will last until potty training.
I also found out that cleaning Green cut our costs a lot. Vinegar cleans anything and has many uses. It is cheap at about $.99 a gallon. Add in some baking soda, borax and soap and there you have it! These ingredients can also be used to make your own laundry detergent. I found Clean House, Clean Planet and it goes into detail about why we should cut out commerical cleaners, not only for health reasons, but for money savings. No more harsh chemical smells in my CLEAN house.
To cut costs even more, we hang dry everything and made the switch to energy efficent lightbulbs. By simply not using our dryer, the power bill dropped almost $50 a month. Going Green does not have to mean spending a lot, but it sure means saving a lot!
:: Check out our previous contributors' posts here. To add your own story, parenting tips or advice to BBA, e-mail us at babyblogaddict[at]yahoo.com.
By Rachael
BBA Contributor
I am proud to say that we survived our first year with triplets. Although the individual moments were often less than graceful, it has been one incredible and amazing journey. During my pregnancy, I spent four weeks on bedrest at home, then was admitted to the hospital where I spent the remaining eight weeks until delivery day.
Needless to say, The Peaches (as we so lovingly call them) were born under an umbrella of fear and apprehension - especially since two of the three were in distress due to complications from Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. When they made the decision to do an emergency c-section, we had no idea what to expect. But each baby came out with a tiny little cry. The last one born took an extra few (and particularly frightening) moments before she finally cried. They did incredibly well in the NICU, defying their doctor's expectations and sailing through each goal set for them. And they came home long before we expected. Of course, once they were home, sleep deprivation hit in full force and we wandered around in a fog until they were about 10 months old. Then the fog began to lift and clarity set in.
It was then that I was finally able to take a few moments to look back over our long journey through the previous year. I sat back in awe as I realized the sheer volume of what we have to be thankful for: three tiny, precious lives. There were many moments throughout the pregnancy and after their birth when we had no idea if our babies would survive long enough to come home, much less celebrate their 1st birthday. But they did. They did more than just survive, they flourished. And now we have three perfect one-year-olds who are toddling and talking, laughing and learning, giggling and growing (in addition to their just as perfect big sister).
Read more about Rachael and her family at her blog. Interested in being a BBA contributor? E-mail us.
An Indian woman reportedly gave birth to the Quads in the northern Italian city of Mantua.
"We have been waiting for this moment for 15 years," the babies' 38-year-old father Pabla Maghar Singh said. "We are really very happy."
The four boys, born a week ago, were named Manav, Manmeet, Roshan and Radveer.
We've spotlighted two amazing quad blogs so far, the Murray Crew and the Steece Quads. Now, we'd like to introduce you to the McNulty Quads - Molly, Ally, Libby and Russ.
I'm not sure if I told Gen and Conor this when we did a spotlight on their blog the first time, but they were part of the inspiration behind BabyBlogAddict.com.
My sister sent me a link to their blog after she came across it while blog-hopping back in May 2007. I started at the beginning and read through the entire blog THAT NIGHT (granted it was one year less of posts at that time). If you read their story on their first post in December 2005, you will be hooked. Both mom, Gen, and dad, Conor, are hilarious and now they have the help of four kids who are well on their way to opening their own comedy club.
We have one more quad blog to spotlight tomorrow, then we'll start with the Quad Mom Q&As, so you can get to know these four amazing moms beyond their blogs.
Check out our current quadathon giveaway too!
