If one child is considered a blessing, then six is definitely a miracle.
And this is exactly how Pennsylvania couple Stacey and Brendan Carey described the birth of their sextuplets - who are all currently in critical condition in hospital.
The proud parents to the three girls and three boys - Emma, Samantha, Olivia, John, Patrick and Connor - gave a press conference today to describe their joy at their new arrivals saying: 'Our family of nine is now complete. We were not expecting a family this big but we are happy now.'
The babies - who were born eight minutes apart - were delivered with the help of a 60-strong medical team at Abington Memorial Hospital on June 1.
Mrs Carey added: 'With the medical team's superior guidance and care, we made it through.'
Doctors said that, though the babies were not out of the woods yet, they were responding well to treatment.
Dr Gerard Clearly, a neonatologist, said: 'Their conditions are fragile and can change minute to minute.'
He added that he expected all sextuplets to remain at the hospital for about three months.
Each weighed about two pounds, a size that carries with it a high mortality rate, but they have been responding well to ventilators and nutritional support.
Stacey, 33, and Brendan, 41, live in a four-bedroom home in Feasterville, a Philadelphia suburb. They also have a daughter, Julianna, who is 16 months old.
Mrs Carey, who became pregnant after undergoing fertility treatments, said she was hospitalized about six weeks before the births.
She said: 'It's just been a long process. We have a long road ahead.'
Doctors said the babies were initially labelled A through F, each one was colour coded for identification, and each had his or her own team of specialists.
Mrs Carey had been hospitalised since the 21st week of pregnancy.
They were delivered by Caesarean section.
Dr Clearly said: 'We were very prepared and practised drilling a number of times.'
Barbara Wadsworth, the hospital's senior vice president and chief nursing officer, told CNN: 'They did what they do every day, but they did it six times. So it was pretty spectacular.'
Mr Carey told Fox: 'We didn't get pregnant through IVF. It was just through regular ovulation induction.
'This was in no way planned. This was in no way intended--in any which way shape of form.
'We intended on having one child. That's all we wanted, and, it just so happened that this miracle took place.'
He told the station he was surprised at the media attention they received: 'The past week has been difficult, just a lot of the media and things like that are out of control.
'But everyone has been respectful and nice. We kind of expected it, but we really didn't expect it to this magnitude.'
Mrs Carey said she was also surprised at the attention: 'We thought maybe if we did a few things then we could regain our privacy.
'But we aren't looking for fame and fortune. We have only agreed to do a few things and then we're going to focus on the babies, our daughter and our family.'
Pennsylvania is already home to perhaps the world's most famous set of sextuplets.
Jon and Kate Gosselin - stars of the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 - welcomed their six children in 2004 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania.
There is about one case of sextuplets reported every year in the U.S.
And this is exactly how Pennsylvania couple Stacey and Brendan Carey described the birth of their sextuplets - who are all currently in critical condition in hospital.
The proud parents to the three girls and three boys - Emma, Samantha, Olivia, John, Patrick and Connor - gave a press conference today to describe their joy at their new arrivals saying: 'Our family of nine is now complete. We were not expecting a family this big but we are happy now.'
The babies - who were born eight minutes apart - were delivered with the help of a 60-strong medical team at Abington Memorial Hospital on June 1.
Mrs Carey added: 'With the medical team's superior guidance and care, we made it through.'
Doctors said that, though the babies were not out of the woods yet, they were responding well to treatment.
Dr Gerard Clearly, a neonatologist, said: 'Their conditions are fragile and can change minute to minute.'
He added that he expected all sextuplets to remain at the hospital for about three months.
Each weighed about two pounds, a size that carries with it a high mortality rate, but they have been responding well to ventilators and nutritional support.
Stacey, 33, and Brendan, 41, live in a four-bedroom home in Feasterville, a Philadelphia suburb. They also have a daughter, Julianna, who is 16 months old.
Mrs Carey, who became pregnant after undergoing fertility treatments, said she was hospitalized about six weeks before the births.
She said: 'It's just been a long process. We have a long road ahead.'
Doctors said the babies were initially labelled A through F, each one was colour coded for identification, and each had his or her own team of specialists.
Mrs Carey had been hospitalised since the 21st week of pregnancy.
They were delivered by Caesarean section.
Dr Clearly said: 'We were very prepared and practised drilling a number of times.'
Barbara Wadsworth, the hospital's senior vice president and chief nursing officer, told CNN: 'They did what they do every day, but they did it six times. So it was pretty spectacular.'
Mr Carey told Fox: 'We didn't get pregnant through IVF. It was just through regular ovulation induction.
'This was in no way planned. This was in no way intended--in any which way shape of form.
'We intended on having one child. That's all we wanted, and, it just so happened that this miracle took place.'
He told the station he was surprised at the media attention they received: 'The past week has been difficult, just a lot of the media and things like that are out of control.
Mrs Carey said she was also surprised at the attention: 'We thought maybe if we did a few things then we could regain our privacy.
'But we aren't looking for fame and fortune. We have only agreed to do a few things and then we're going to focus on the babies, our daughter and our family.'
Pennsylvania is already home to perhaps the world's most famous set of sextuplets.
Jon and Kate Gosselin - stars of the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 - welcomed their six children in 2004 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania.
There is about one case of sextuplets reported every year in the U.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment