Strollerderby : quintuplets

No Great Outpouring of Support for Struggling New Mom of Quintuplets

Shannon LC Cate — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:01:00 GMT

When Adwai Malual found she was pregnant with multiple babies, she wasn't clear how it would effect her. A first-time mother at 28 years old, she didn't fully realize what one baby required, let alone the quintuplets she was carrying.

After coming from Sudan to the United States to receive a blessing on her pregnancy from her mother-in-law (who was living in the U.S.), Malual developed serious complications and was hospitalized and unable to return home. Her babies, now six weeks old, are healthy and doing well, but for some monitoring for breathing issues. But Malual is on her own.

Her husband works in a government position in Sudan and has not been able to leave work and has not yet seen his five babies except in photos. Meanwhile, Malual is stuck in Laurel, Maryland with her mother temporarily visiting to help her. But she has little other support.

No diaper companies sent truck loads of products, no formula maker sent gallons of assistance, as sometimes happens in these kinds of cases.

A local church has helped with some hand-me-down baby clothes and two cribs. But 12 hours a day, Malual does nothing but attend to her babies until her mother takes over for a few hours so she can sleep. When her mother leaves, she doesn't know what she will do.
Sudan is a war-torn country and she would prefer to raise her children in the United States. But she would have to apply for sanctuary, be approved, find childcare and a job that covered the cost of it plus living expenses for six. Whether she makes it home to Sudan or somehow makes life work in the U.S., for now, Malual needs all the help she can get.

A chaplain from the hospital where the babies were born is collecting donations for her. For information on how you can help, see the chaplain's name and address at the end of the story linked here.

For more photos of the beautiful babies, see the Washington Post's photo gallery.

Queens woman pregnant with sextuplets

Brett Singer — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Let's talk about sexts, bay-bee, let's talk about you and me (and me and me and me and me and me and me)…

Six kids. SIX. KIDS. AT. ONCE.

"Victor and Digna Carpio didn't want their 7-year-old son Jhancarlos to grow up alone. The Queens couple tried for years to have a second child - without success. Now their wish is about to come true - over and over and over and over and over and over again."

So, be careful what you wish for?

A few choice details:

-   At first, doctors said she was having quintuplets. They also found a mass that they thought was a tumor. Turns out the tumor was the sixth baby.
-   Their son, 7 year old Jhancarlos, said, "Mami, that's too many babies…They'll destroy the house!" Smart kid.
-   This is the second set of sextuplets to be born in New York City, and The Daily News says that the Carpios might be the first Hispanic couple to have…sexts. (That sounds weird, but if you can call quintuplets "quints", sextuplets should be "sexts", right? I really need a nap.)
-   Sextuplet pregnancies are rare, and often all six babies don't survive. "Carpio had such a rough time during the first four months of her pregnancy that her doctors tried to convince her to sacrifice four of the babies to improve the chances of survival for the other two." She refused. I think I would too, but what a decision.
-   The article makes no mention of fertility treatments, which is good.
-   A follow up article is titled, "Queens sextuplets will be challenge." Um, duh.

I'll say good luck, but they're going to need more than luck. Patience, money, family... oof.

image/source: NY Daily News

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More Vegan Controversy: Can Kids be Vegan?

Karen Murphy — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:48:00 GMT

The quick answer, before I get to the controversy, is: Yes. They can. Sure, it takes some doing, but any diet that doesn't consist of simply opening up bags and boxes and heating things in microwaves takes some doing. Most people I know who are vegans are also fairly well educated on nutrition and things, unlike the sad couple whose baby died recently from being fed only a diet of apple juice and soy milk. But I don't really consider them at all in the same league as Gayle Nelson-Folkersen, the subject of this most recent controversy.

What's going on with Gayle and her children is this: she's the mother of ten-year-old quintuplets who have been raised on a vegan diet. Gayle and husband Jeff are going their separate ways, and his court bid for custody of the kids attacks their marital lifestyle and the way the kids have been raised. Frankly, this one hits kind of close to home for me, since I went through something similar a year ago, and my stuff isn't even over yet. But that's me.

What concerns me most here is that the public's fear of veganism, fueled by lack of information and media uproar (like with the clueless and dangerous couple mentioned above) is being used as a weapon in the court system. I'm not qualified to speak about the Nelson-Folkerson's situation, which I'm sure contains far more facets than any of us are interested in knowing about, but all of a sudden you just have to utter one word, "VEGAN" and everyone becomes quiet, like it's something awful and bad for children.

And that I'm not good with.