Now meet the world's first known "rabbit-mom" of our time! She was the first woman to ever give litter to a set of octoplets - eight (8) children from one pregnancy! Her name, Nkem Chukwu and she is just 28years old? Really? And her husband or babies-daddy (they share different last names) is equally 41 years young? Anyway, that is just an aside, as we now delve into the meat of this oped - a little excursion into the mindset of these numero-uno mothers! Before the current California eight-kid wonder-mom, Nadya Suleman, the Nigerian, possibly from the Igbo area of Imo State, holds the world record of the most human-litter from one pregnancy! This makes her singularly and eminently qualified to be a consulting octoplet-mother to mentor the latest California "child-factory" mother? From available pictures, Nkem Chukwu and her paramour, Iyke Udobi seem to have been doing a terrific job raising these their gifts of fertility-treatment? At ten, they look very well maintained; although the state of their mental development is not thus discernible from the pictures. Icheoku is aware that such multiple births always come with some mental "retardation" developmental issues; but we are not in a position to either confirm or deny such development with these Nigerian-Americans octoplets. 
One would expect such "rabbit-moms" to sterilize immediately after such breeding; but no, as they always hunger for more. May be, because people came to their aid and they did not suffer the hardships associated with raising such a "multitude" of kids in America? Icheoku was surprised to learn that the Nigerian octoplets-parents, who were expected to have ceased and desisted from further procreation, produced yet another child, Favor, in 2002? In Nkem Chukwu's case, could it be that she wanted a replacement for one of the octoplets who passed-away one week after delivery? This is against the backdrop of currently available information that the California "rabbit-mom" had six (6) other children prior to her present eight litters? This two cases are such that calls for the immediate intervention of Family Planning Services and/or Child Welfare Services.
One would expect such "rabbit-moms" to sterilize immediately after such breeding; but no, as they always hunger for more. May be, because people came to their aid and they did not suffer the hardships associated with raising such a "multitude" of kids in America? Icheoku was surprised to learn that the Nigerian octoplets-parents, who were expected to have ceased and desisted from further procreation, produced yet another child, Favor, in 2002? In Nkem Chukwu's case, could it be that she wanted a replacement for one of the octoplets who passed-away one week after delivery? This is against the backdrop of currently available information that the California "rabbit-mom" had six (6) other children prior to her present eight litters? This two cases are such that calls for the immediate intervention of Family Planning Services and/or Child Welfare Services. 
Pictured left here are, right rear Nkem Chukwu, her man Iyke Louis Udobi, center and Nkem's mother Janet Chukwu left. The seven surviving children of the octoplets are (middle row) Eche, far left, Ikem, second from left, Gorom, second from right, Chidi, far right, (front row) Chima, far left, Jioke, second from left, and Ebuka, far right. Their little sister Favor, 6, second from right front, joined the family in 2002! Icheoku says, while the California birth occupies the front-page, peradventure this other family can still use some assistance, taking care of their multiple litter. Their father's two jobs and their mother's technician's job incomes will be but a drop in the ocean of their family's needs. So if you are touched by their story, please contact their fund: -
Chukwu Family Fund
St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital
6900 Fannin, #440
Houston, TX 77030
Mom undergoes surgery after delivering octuplets
ReplyDeleteBy MARK BABINECK
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON — Doctors knew the baby girl born to Nkem Chukwu two weeks ago would soon have plenty of company. Even they couldn't guess just how much, though.
Mrs. Chukwu delivered her daughter's remaining five sisters and two brothers Sunday, all members of the first known surviving set of octuplets. They ranged from 11 ounces to nearly two pounds, and all were on ventilators and listed in critical condition after birth.
There was no sure way to tell how many babies Mrs. Chukwu was carrying until she naturally gave birth to one on Dec. 8. Dr. Brian Kirshon had thought there were six or seven total until a post-delivery examination brought the startling news.
"It wasn't until after that baby was born that we knew we had eight," said Kirshon, an obstetrician who specializes in high-risk cases at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital.
The babies were born from 13 to 15 weeks prematurely. Even so, doctors said Mrs. Chukwu required nine weeks of drug therapy to forestall labor. Those drugs usually are administered for only three days to week, Kirshon said.
As a result, Mrs. Chukwu required surgery this morning to stop internal bleeding that were a side effect of the drugs, he said. He called the bleeding a "generalized ooze" from her abdominal wall.
"It was something not anticipated," Kirshon said. He said her condition was "stabilizing."
"Mom is a remarkable woman," Kirshon said. "She would go to any lengths to prolong this pregnancy."
Mom could go home as soon as a week, doctors said.
Mrs. Chukwu, a Nigerian native who now resides in Houston with her husband Iyke, had been taking fertility drugs. She conceived triplets last year but lost them midway through her pregnancy earlier this year.
Mrs. Chukwu had been taking three drugs to postpone labor, although Kirshon said giving birth to the early baby probably bought the other seven valuable time to mature. However, the littlest of the seven Sunday deliveries might not have survived much longer in the womb, he said.
The survival rate for babies born so young is 85 percent, doctors said.
"We're very hopeful all of the babies will survive, but they're critically ill newborns and we can't say for sure everything will be OK," said Dr. Patti Savrick, a pediatrician at Texas Children's Hospital, the adjacent facility where the babies were whisked one by one by a team of about 30 doctors and nurses during the 45-minute Caesarian section.
She said the eldest infant has been removed from a ventilator but is getting supplemental oxygen. The others remain on ventilators. All are sedated, she said today.
Dr. Leonard Weisman, chief neonatal specialist at Texas Children's Hospital, said he'll watch for lung and heart problems over the next few days. After that, metabolic problems and infections are a danger, he added.
Doctors said the babies will likely remain hospitalized for two or three months.
Mrs. Chukwu remained in stable condition Sunday night and could be discharged from the hospital by week's end. Her husband was not present for the deliveries and could not be reached for comment.
However, Kirshon said the father has visited the children and is excited by them.
"He's very excited about the pregnancy," he said.
The couple have no other children.
Asked if the couple was prepared for so many infants simultaneously, Kirshon said: "I think she has a realistic view on the difficulty and magnitude of what she has undertaken. She has good support from her mother and others."
Mrs. Chukwu was referred to Kirshon, who delivered five surviving sextuplets to another Houston-area woman last month, three months into her pregnancy. Doctors discussed with her the possibility of aborting one or more fetus to help the others' chances, but she declined, Kirshon said.
Mrs. Chukwu entered the hospital in early October and has been confined to bed for six weeks, Kirshon said.
To keep pressure off her lower body for the past 2« weeks, her bed was at an extreme incline with her head toward the floor, he said.
"I think she is remarkable in that she was able to tolerate extreme conditions, to lie upside down in that degree of discomfort and that degree of immobility," Kirshon said.
Mrs. Chukwu also was fed intravenously late in her pregnancy "to allow extra room for the babies to grow," Kirshon said.
The hospital had honored the couple's request for privacy. Word about the octuplets didn't emerge until tips were called in to local news outlets after the births.
Mrs. Chukwu's impending entry into the history books wasn't a topic of conversation leading up to Sunday's births, Kirshon said.
"I think she was so focused on having the babies survive, that didn't even come up," Kirshon said.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest multiple birth was nine babies in Sydney, Australia, in 1971. All the children died.
Three other octuplet births have been recorded in the past 13 years, but in each of the births, some of the babies died.
Rosario Clavijo, 31, of Huelva, Spain, became pregnant with the aid of fertility drugs and gave birth Dec. 5, 1996, to six healthy babies — four boys and two girls. Two children died.
In August 1996, a 32-year-old British woman, Mandy Allwood, conceived eight fetuses and rejected medical advice to abort some of them. All died, and she was criticized after she sold her story to a tabloid newspaper with a payment based on how many live births she produced.
On Nov. 19, 1997, Bobbi McCaughey of Carlisle, Iowa, gave birth to septuplets, the second set of septuplets to be born alive. All seven survived. She had also taken fertility drugs.
Mrs. McCaughey and her husband, Kenny were celebrating Christmas with their church family when they heard the news of the Chukwu octopulets.
"We wish them the Lord's blessing and a merry Christmas," the couple said through their Nashville, Tenn.,-based agent, Wes Yoder.
Last Updated--Dec. 21, 2001) The world's first set of surviving octuplets (six girls, two boys) was born to a Houston, Texas (USA) couple, Nkem Chukwu (29) and Iyke Louis Udobi (41), at 9:00 a.m. central time on December 20, 1998.
ReplyDeleteEach baby was delivered 13 weeks premature by Caeseran Section, with the exception of the oldest girl, Ebuka, who was delivered naturally on December 8, 15 weeks premature. The octuplets were born at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston and transported to Texas Children's Hospital, also in Houston, shortly after birth. The babies were given Ibo tribal names from the couple's native Nigerian heritage.
Full Name Nickname Weight Meaning
Chukwuebuka Nkemjika Ebuka 690g, 22 oz. God is Great
Chidinma Anulika Chidi 760g, 24.4 oz. God is Beautiful
Chinecherem Nwabugwu Echerem 800g, 25.7 oz. God Thinks of Me
Chimaijem Otto Chima 730g, 23.5 oz. God Knows My Way
Chijindu Chidera Odera 320g, 10.3 oz. God Has My Life
Chukwubuikem Maduabuchi Ikem 500g, 16.0 oz. God is My Strength
Chijioke Chinedum Jioke 810g, 26.0 oz. God is My Leader
Chinagorom Chidiebere Gorom 520g, 16.7 oz. God is Merciful
The eight babies weighed just over 10 combined pounds at birth showing just how dangerous a multiple birth of this magnitude can be. Despite top medical care, the smallest of the octuplets, Odera succombed to heart and lung failure on December 27, 1998 just a week after her birth. Little Odera weighed just 320 grams at birth, more than 25 percent smaller than any surviving baby (440 grams) in the history of the Texas Children's Hospital.
After spending more than six weeks bed-ridden, the woman's mother, Nkem Chukwu, was released from the hospital on Wednesday, December 30.
On March 3, 1999, three of the surviving seven children were discharged from the hospital as Ebuka, Echerem and Jioke were allowed to return to their parents home in Southwest Houston. They will be taken care of in the family's four bedroom home by Dr. Patti Savrick, a pediatrician who was chosen by the parents to monitor the growth and development of the babies. At the time of their release, Jioke weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, Echerem weighed 4 pounds, 7 ounces and Ebuka was 4 pounds.
On April 8, 1999, Chidi and Chima joined their brothers and sisters at home and were discharged from Texas Children's Hospital. At the time of their release, Chidi weighed 6 pounds, 3.2 ounces, and Chima checked in at 6 pounds, 13.2 ounces.
On April 26, 1999, the youngest of the babies, Gorom, was discharged from the hospital and allowed to join her brothers and sisters at home. At the time of her release, Gorom weighed 4 pounds, 10.0 ounces. Two months later on June 25, the last of the octuplets to remain in the hospital, the first-born boy, Ikem, was also released from Texas Children's Hospital, as all seven surviving babies were reunited. Ikem weighed 7 pounds, 12.0 ounces at the time of his release from the hospital.
The Chukwu/Uwobi family moved into a new 5,200 square-foot home in League City, Texas in September, 1999 that was donated to them by the Fannie Mae Mortgage Company. The home has six bedrooms and is located on a cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood about 15 minutes from the hospital where the octuplets were born.
On November 6, 1999, the seven remaining Chukwu Octuplets made their first public appearance at a church ceremony in southwest Houston. All seven 11-month-olds appeared to be thriving as the five girls were dressed identically in white dresses and frilly white laces while the two boys wore matching white suits. The parents also appeared to be doing well. A follow-up after their first birthday claimed that all seven living octuplets are weighing approximately 20 pounds apiece.
The Houston Chronicle ran an update on the surviving Octuplets' 2nd birthday, again providing the good news that the children are all doing well and acting as any other normal two-year-old would. "The kids are doing great," said Dr. Patti Savrick, the children's pediatrician. "Their motor skills are good, and they're conversing with each other. In spite of being born prematurely, they've already caught up in size to other children their age. They are normal, healthy 2-year-olds."
The Houston Chronicle also ran an update on the surviving Octuplets' 3rd birthday, which continues to stress how well the seven are doing. It also gave insight on part of their normal every-day routine.
The octuplets' grandmother, Janet Chukwu, bathes, clothes and feeds each of the toddlers starting at 6 a.m., according to a family news release. "I don't know what I would do without my mother," said their mother. Nkem Chukwu is a computer programmer who hopes to return to work part-time to supplement the family's income. The father, Ikye Udobi, a medical technician, continues to work two jobs.
Dec. 26, 1998 photo of parents
at Texas Children's Hospital
A fund for the family was also created at
Chukwu Family Fund
St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital
6900 Fannin, #440
Houston, TX 77030
Grandma: Octuplets Mom Obsessed With Having Kids
ReplyDeleteCalifornia Mother Nadya Suleman Now Has 14 ChildrenLOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Nadya Suleman, 33, gave birth Monday to octuplets in Los Angeles, Calif. Suleman now has a total of 14 children.
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Doctor Says Newborn Octuplets Appear Healthy (1/27/2009)
The woman who gave birth to octuplets this week conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro fertilization, is not married and has been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager, her mother said.
Angela Suleman told The Associated Press she was not supportive when her daughter, Nadya Suleman, decided to have more embryos implanted last year.
"It can't go on any longer," she said in a phone interview Friday. "She's got six children and no husband. I was brought up the traditional way. I firmly believe in marriage. But she didn't want to get married."
Nadya Suleman, 33, gave birth Monday in nearby Bellflower. She was expected to remain in the hospital for at least a few more days, and her newborns for at least a month.
A spokeswoman at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center said the babies were were progressing daily, with all eight breathing unassisted and being tube-fed.
While her daughter recovers, Angela Suleman is taking care of the other six children, ages 2 through 7, at the family home in Whittier, about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
She said she warned her daughter that when she gets home from the hospital, "I'm going to be gone."
Angela Suleman said her daughter always had trouble conceiving and underwent in vitro fertilization treatments because her fallopian tubes are "plugged up."
There were frozen embryos left over after her previous pregnancies and her daughter didn't want them destroyed, so she decided to have more children.
Her mother and doctors have said the woman was told she had the option to abort some of the embryos and, later, the fetuses. She refused.
Her mother said she does not believe her daughter will have any more children.
"She doesn't have any more (frozen embryos), so it's over now," she said. "It has to be."
Nadya Suleman wanted to have children since she was a teenager, "but luckily she couldn't," her mother said.
"Instead of becoming a kindergarten teacher or something, she started having them, but not the normal way," he mother said.
Her daughter's obsession with children caused Angela Suleman considerable stress, so she sought help from a psychologist, who told her to order her daughter out of the house.
"Maybe she wouldn't have had so many kids then, but she is a grown woman," Angela Suleman said. "I feel responsible and I didn't want to throw her out."
Little psychological research has been conducted on the reasons some mothers seem hooked on repeated pregnancies. David Diamond, a co-director for the Center for Reproductive Psychology in San Diego, said mothers can be drawn to repeat pregnancies for a number of reasons, with some finding the experience so satisfying they choose to become surrogates.
Diane G. Sanford, a psychologist and author specializing in women's reproductive mental health, said while she doesn't know much about Nadya Suleman's background, women that have obsessive-compulsive disorder can become fixated on different obsessions.
"Her obsession centers around children, having children and being a mother," she said. "To what degree are her esteem and identity based on being a mom and why has this from a young age been such a preoccupation of hers?"
Yolanda Garcia, 49, of Whittier, said she helped care for Nadya Suleman's autistic son three years ago.
"From what I could tell back then, she was pretty happy with herself, saying she liked having kids and she wanted 12 kids in all," Garcia told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
"She told me that all of her kids were through in vitro, and I said 'Gosh, how can you afford that and go to school at the same time?"' she added. "And she said it's because she got paid for it."
Garcia said she did not ask for details.
Nadya Suleman holds a 2006 degree in child and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton, and as late as last spring she was studying for a master's degree in counseling, college spokeswoman Paula Selleck told the Press-Telegram.
Her fertility doctor has not been identified. Her mother told the Los Angeles Times all the children came from the same sperm donor but she declined to identify him.
Birth certificates reviewed by The Associated Press identify a David Solomon as the father for the four oldest children. Certificates for the other children were not immediately available.
Angela Suleman told reporters Friday that doctors implanted far fewer than eight embryos but they multiplied. Experts said this could be possible since Nadya Suleman's system has likely been hyperstimulated for years with fertilization treatments and drugs.
The news that the octuplets' mother already had six children sparked an ethical debate. Some medical experts were disturbed to hear that she was offered fertility treatment, and troubled by the possibility that she was implanted with so many embryos.
"You should always shoot for one," said Dr. Marcelle Cedars, a professor and director of reproductive health at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, who worried about the increased risk of potential health complications for the babies.
Others worried that she would be overwhelmed trying to raise so many children and would end up relying on public support.
"This woman could not comprehend the ramifications of having eight children of the same age at the same time," said Judith Horowitz, a Parkland, Fla.-based psychologist and author who works with couples on fertility issues. "After Pampers stops delivering the free diapers, then what?"
The eight babies -- six boys and two girls -- were delivered by cesarean section weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Forty-six physicians and staff assisted in the deliveries.