Octuplets born 'screaming and kicking' in Calif.

[Adsos Letter]

Source: MyWay

Jan 27, 12:29 AM (ET)
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON

BELLFLOWER, Calif. (AP) - A woman gave birth to eight babies in Southern California on Monday, the world's second live-born set of octuplets.

The mother, who was not identified, gave birth to six boys and two girls weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces, doctors at Kaiser Permanante Bellflower Medical Center told The Associated Press.

The hospital had scheduled a Caesarean section for seven babies, but doctors were surprised by the eighth.

"My eyes were wide," Dr. Karen Maples said, explaining her reaction to the last birth.

Doctors said the babies were born nine weeks premature but are in stable condition. Two newborns were placed on ventilators and a third needs oxygen.

Forty-six hospital staff and four delivery rooms were used for the births. After a baby was born, staff rushed the newborn into another room and waited for the next, the hospital said. But despite weeks of preparation, doctors did not expect the eighth child.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090127/D95V9PAO2.html

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. I predict a reality show. Big families are all over TV these days.

[lapfog_1]

2. I'm betting fertility drugs are involved.

I'm really beginning to think that the social good that those drugs do is outweighed by the social bad that they do.

No one should raise a "litter" of children, IMHO. The kids are born premature, often with developmental deformities, and having that many kids of the same age is not fair to the kids, never mind the parents (The Parents choose it, so fine, their choice... but the kids didn't get a say).

This is my little pet peeve. Ignore it if you disagree.

[Enrique]

4. if there's so many kids that one of them gets "lost" in the womb

then that's too many kids, imo. Just a rule of thumb.

But despite weeks of preparation, doctors did not expect the eighth child.

"It is quite easy to miss a baby when you're anticipating seven babies," said Dr. Harold Henry, chief of maternal and fetal medicine at the hospital. "Ultrasound doesn't show you everything."

[murielm99]

6. I agree with you.

We have someone in my family who had a litter of four. He is one of my cousins. They already had a developmentally delayed son. He is a sweetie.

They thought they could not have any more, so they went with the fertility treatments. They tell me that none of the kids have any problems, but who knows? The parents are the ones with problems. I have never seen two more clueless, unready to parent people than these two. The grandmother is doing a lot of the childrearing, along with many volunteers from the community.

Now, this woman who thought she was unable to have more children has given birth to a singleton. Go figure.

Yes, it is choice. But many of the same people who would agree with this choice would be in my face because I believe women should be able to choose abortion.

[trotsky]

10. I agree completely. n/t

[blonndee]

3. OMG.

I do totally support women's right to choose (obviously) but freaking hell already. What is WITH these people and their HUGE families!? Are we supposed to pretend that this has no effect on anyone else? Besides the (selfish) fact that almost all of these people are fundie hypocrites who don't believe in technology except when it makes them fertile, isn't it sad that these same people apparently have no knowledge or care about the existing children in their own country and around the world who need parents already?

[ipfilter]

11. Boomer.

[blonndee]

12. Sooner! :)

[grantcart]

5. "screaming and kicking" - they must have just heard about the latest job layoffs.

[Duer 157099]

7. She had a litter!

I mean seriously, didn't she?

WOW, just wow, I can't even imagine.

[populistdriven]

8. if she had 8 breasts to keep those kids happy it might make sense biologically

I'm sure dad wouldn't mind

[sohndrsmith]

9. I hope they have health insurance... n/t

[Bucky]

13. I don't know why, but in my mind I imagined these were Siamese octuplets