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Tag: triplets

  • Identical Quadruplets To Stay in NICU for a While

    Identical quadruplets were born on February 8 to Kimberly and Craig Fugate, who were surprised to learn that the 42-year-old was pregnant to begin with.

    The couple was really shocked to learn that the doctor expected triplets.

    Then the diaper hit the fan when they were in the delivery room, delivering what they thought were triplets at 13 weeks premature.

    “They had gotten the three out and they said, ‘More feet,’” the mother told CNN affiliate WAPT. “I said, ‘No!’ It was an instant shock.”

    Kenleigh Rosa was born at 7:55, weighing 2 pounds, 1 ounce. Her sister, Kristen Sue, was born at 7:57 weighing 2 pounds, 4 ounces. Then came Kayleigh Pearl at 7:58 weighing 2 pounds, 8 ounces, followed by little surprise Kelsey Roxanne. She was born just a minute later weighing 2 pounds, 6 ounces.

    The odds of having identical quadruplets without fertilization help are “incalcuable” according to Kimberly’s physician and professor of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Mississippi, Dr. James Bofill.

    The Dr.’s reaction to the news was first shock, then he was “…embarrassed, obviously,” Bofill said. “The news was sent to me by one of my fellows. I thought she was kidding.”

    It is unknown when the babies will be able to go home and join their parents and older sister Katelyn, 10. The Fugates have set up a Facebook page to keep friends and family updated on the progress of their little angels.

    “Typically, when babies are born prematurely, doctors tell the families to expect them to stay in the (neonatal intensive care unit) until their original due date, which in this case would be May 2,” said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Hospodor. “It is possible that some or all of the girls would be stronger enough to go home before that, or have to stay longer. It depends on how they develop over the next 12 weeks.”

    The Fugates obviously have a lot of prep work ahead of them. Hopefully all will go well with the babies in the hospital so that they may begin their lives at home as soon as possible.

    “I haven’t been able to hold them yet,” Kimberly Fugate said. “It will be very exciting to get to take them home and love them.”

    Image via You Tube

  • Rare White Lion Triplets Born in Poland

    Rare White Lion Triplets Born in Poland

    White lion triplets have been born at a private zoo in Poland.

    The head of the zoo in Borysew, Andrzej Pabich, says that the lions’ mother, 2 ½ year old white lioness Azira, has accepted the cubs and has been patiently feeding and caring for them. Their father, 3 ½ year old Sahim, also a white lion, lives in a neighboring cage. A protective father, Sahim is said to roar at any people who come too close to his family. White lions are especially rare given that they often have defects that prevent giving birth or may be rejected by their mothers. Triplets are rarer still.

    “Luckily the birth went all smoothly,” Pabich said. “We had doubts whether it would be all OK: won’t [she] reject them, will she have milk? But all went luckily well in the end. The mother accepted [the cubs], is feeding them, and is very caring.”

    White lions are rare, their color the result of a mutation. Fewer than 100 are thought to currently exist—though the addition of triplets is a good start to boosting numbers. They are members of the Kruger subspecies of African lion in South Africa. The Global White Lion Protection Trust claims that there are no more specimens in the wild. The mutation is so rare that they were once thought to be the stuff of legend, and the first photographs of white lions weren’t taken until the 1970s, when researcher Chris McBride found specimens in multiple lion prides around South Africa.

    The cubs will be allowed to leave their mother and run outdoors beginning in April.

    The zoo, which opened in 2008, has animals of 80 species, including white tigers and white camels, and drew 160,000 visitors last year. The zoo will wait until the cubs are older before naming them, but with white tigers, white lions, and white camels, surely they’re running short of names like “Snowflake” and “Powder” (or the Polish equivalents thereof). Any suggestions?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Identical Triplets Beat the Odds

    One baby is a miracle. Two is a surprise. And three? Well, three is just simply amazing.

    Karen and Ian Gilbert already had one beautiful child, Faye, and when they found out that Karen was pregnant again they were very excited.

    They assumed that they would only be having one baby, and the thought never crossed their minds that they would be having three. However, eight weeks into the pregnancy, Karen started experiencing intense pains in her stomach. She believed that she was experiencing a miscarriage. That was not the case. The three tiny babies were fighting for space in the womb, causing her pain.

    Karen said that they could not believe what they had heard, when they were told that they were pregnant with not only one child, but three.

    “We were just very shocked,” she said. “The lady doing the scan had to call somebody else into the room to check what she was seeing was right. We pretty much left the hospital laughing, crying, laughing, crying… But we were over the moon”

    After the discovery that they would be having triplets, the doctors gave the Gilberts the option to abort the pregnancy. The doctors were fearful because the babies all came from one egg and shared the same placenta. They proposed an abortion because there was a chance that, because the babies shared fluids and space, they could accidentally kill each other.

    “The risks were so high to me and the babies because they shared a placenta,” said Karen. “There was the chance of twin to twin syndrome, where one baby can starve the other two babies of food and other fluids. But we just couldn’t do it. The babies are ours.”

    They continued their pregnancy and now have three precious, and identical, daughters to show for it. Ffion weighed 3lb 8oz, Maddison was 3lb 5oz and Paige weighed 3lb 4oz. They are now eight weeks old and are happy and healthy.

    “It’s been crazy,” she said. “Their personalities are already starting to shine through and I can’t wait to get to know them better.”

    “At first they didn’t look real and you could pick them up with one hand. It was a bit of a shock,” said Ian. “Now we’ve got them home we are coming to terms with it. They are starting to feel like our own.”

    Image via Thinkstock