Even though she has 13 children and another on the way, Sara Foss says she ‘wants twins and I’m going to keep trying until I do it.’

“I love having babies. It’s the most wonderful thing in the world. I love all my children.”

Sara was just 16 years old when she became pregnant with her first baby, Patrick, in 1986.

At that time, she loved being a mom, but hated giving birth and vowed never to have any more children.

Ten years later, Sara changed her mind and gave birth to her second son, Stephen, now 13.

“Something inside me snapped after that,” she smiled. “Because I started having babies. I just couldn’t stop. I’ve had a baby nearly every year since then.

“It’s fantastic. I got over my fear of labour and just started having the kids. They’re all brilliant. They don’t give me any bother. They’re fantastic.”

Her only problem? Figuring out names for all of them. She has given her babies some very different names, but that doesn’t bother this energetic mom or her long-term partner, Stephen Smith.

“I’ve called them names that mean something to me and my partner. Sometimes people are shocked to hear what they’re called, but I’m not bothered.”

The kids are: Malachai, 12, followed by Peppermint, 11, Echo, 10, Eli, 9, Rogue, 8, Frodo, 7, Morpheus, 5, Artemis, 4, Blackbird, 3, Baudelaire, 2, and nine-month-old Voorhees.

The couple has not found out what they are having this time but they say they have already thought of a few good names.

In previous years, they have been in trouble with the local Register Office for taking too long to register the baby’s birth and its name – but not this time.

One things for sure. When this new baby arrives, he or she will likely have to bunk with mom and dad. This family is definitely in close quarters. All 14 (the oldest son has left the nest) are squished, cozily into a 3 bedroom .

“We have a lot of bunk beds and cots,” said Sara. “All the furniture in the bedrooms is on wheels so we can move them at bedtime.”

“Baudelaire sleeps in a travel cot and a couple of the lads use an air bed which we inflate when they’re tired.”

At 20 weeks’ pregnant, Sara is enjoying her pregnancy and is thankful she’s not piling on the pounds.

She says she’s not had to bring out her maternity clothes yet and that’s good news.

“I don’t want to get too massive because I’m still having to race around looking after the little ones. I’m looking after three children under the age of three every day – not to mention all the others when they come out of school,” she smiled.

We wish this family the best. Even though they have their hands full, they doing it with a smile and lots of love. At the end of the day that’s all that matters.

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A Tennessee mom was caught by surprise when her fourth child, who was scheduled to be delivered by C-section, arrived 3 weeks early – at home.

After experiencing contractions all night, Bobbye Favazza, 27, called her daughter in around 8:30 a.m. to call 911.

When emergency services personnel didn’t arrive in time to help, Bobbye’s 2-year-old son Jeremiha Taylor stepped in.

Jeremiha even remained calm and went to get his mom a towel,without being told, when she started to bleed.

“It happened so fast,” Favazza said. “My water broke, and the baby came two to three minutes later. I just pushed and (Jeremiha) caught him.”

In order to open the door for the arriving firefighters, Favazza held her newborn with the umbilical cord still attached.

Mother and baby finally arrived to the hospital, where they were each given a clean bill of health.

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SOURCEPhoto by Stan Carroll

November is Prematurity Awareness Month at the March of Dimes. Launched on January 30, 2003, the Campaign has two goals: (1) to raise public awareness of the problems of prematurity and (2) to decrease the rate of preterm birth in the U.S.

The campaign:

• Funds research to find the causes of premature birth
• Encourages investment of public and private research dollars to identify causes and to identify and test promising interventions
• Educates women about risk-reduction strategies and the signs and symptoms of premature labor
• Provides information and emotional support to families affected by prematurity
• Advocates to expand access to health care coverage to improve maternity care and infant health outcomes
• Helps health care providers to improve risk detection and address risk factors
• Generates concern and action around the problem

Four years ago, I welcomed a tiny baby at 24 weeks gestation weighing just 675gms. At his lowest weight he was 490 grams, which is just an ounce over a pound. We were very lucky that our son was able to come home just 3 days after his official due date. Many parents we met stayed at the hospital much longer than we did. Before he arrived, I had no idea that a baby so small could survive outside of the womb.

In 2006, nearly 543,000 infants were born prematurely. Prematurity is the leading killer of America’s newborns. Those who survive often have lifelong health problems, including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, chronic lung disease, blindness and hearing loss.

For over 65 years, the March of Dimes has saved millions of babies and children from death and disabilities through their life-saving research, innovative programs, and dedicated volunteers.

We are honored to have many families who have offered to share their stories. These babies, born between 23 and 32 weeks gestation) all arrived under unique circumstances.

Over the next few weeks we will be profiling these special babies who beat the odds of prematurity and are still fighting to develop each day!!

Please do what you can to support an organization that is leading the campaign to reduce premature birth by supporting research and by educating the public and health care providers.

Like a scene from 50 First Dates, Karen Wilkinson-Wigham, 37, needs to keep a “mummy diary” so she can look back on it and remember the baby that she forgets giving birth to.

Karen has short term memory loss and every few days forgets what has happened prior. This diary ensures that she will not forget anything about her baby George and his life growing up.

‘My diary is so important to me because when George is older and asks me questions he will have everything written down for him.’

She added: ‘It is also helps me too.’

On Christmas Day in 2005 Karen began feeling ill and was suffering from severe migraines. A few days later she fell into a coma where doctors told her family that if she did awake, she would be left in a vegetative state. However, Karen amazed them and came out with only short-term memory loss.

During the following months, Karen focused on learning how to walk again and re-establishing her relationship with her fiance Brian all over again.

Despite the almost full recovery, Karen was given the devastating news that she never get to be a mom. Just before she was due to have a hysterectomy, an ultrasound revealed that she was actually 20 weeks pregnant.

‘I was terrified it was cancer at first, so we were so elated it was a baby and were were out straight away buying baby clothes and all sorts for him.’

Just a few short days before the baby was supposed to be born an ultrasound had revealed that their baby boy Joshua had passed away.

Shortly after Karen became pregnant again, but sadly her second child, Georgia, who was born still.

Karen said: ‘I can’t recall much about it but I feel sick because the emptiness and pain at such a terrible loss are still there.’

Last year, when Karen became pregnant again, she began writing down when she felt her baby kick and had scans when she could not remember the last time she felt movement.

The happy couple were blessed with the birth of baby George last month weighing a healthy 7lbs.

Karen said: ‘After so many nightmares, I can’t believe Brian and I have a healthy baby. The diary will help me remember.

‘I have a strong Christian faith and a wonderfully supportive family – my mum is constantly at my side helping me care for George.’

She added: ‘Now, I don’t let it all get me down. Instead, I feel lucky I’m alive and have been blessed with such a beautiful baby.’

I cannot even imagine what it would be like to forget your child every few days. To not remember things that are so special and important. She is an amazing woman!

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• “Miracle Mom” Survives H1N1 While 9 Months Pregnant
• Baby Brings Mom Out Of Coma

SOURCE

Twenty nine year old Karin McHugh had one of the worst cases of H1N1 doctors had ever seen. She was also nine months pregnant at the time she became ill. But remarkably, her baby is healthy and she lived to tell the story.

Her illness was a textbook case of how the H1N1 virus can be particularly harmful to expectant mothers.

It started back in July when Karin developed a cough with some wheezing. She didn’t ever consider the possibility of it being the H1N1 flu. Not feeling very well, she called her OBGYN to see what she could take and was told to see her family doctor. They diagnosed her with bronchitis and sent her home with an inhaler.

Just five days later she started running a fever and couldn’t get out of bed. She knew something wasn’t right and told her husband to take her to the hospital.

When doctors at the hospital did some x-rays they saw that Karin had fluid on her lungs. At first they thought that she had pneumonia and placed her on a respirator. When that didn’t help she was tested for H1N1. Positive results prompted an emergency c-section and then she was placed in a medically induced coma for seven weeks.

“She was as sick as anyone could be,” Scott Halpern, assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania said.
McHugh was placed on a heart-lung bypass machine, but despite doctors’ best efforts to keep her stable, she twice suffered cardiac arrest.

Karin didn’t get to meet her precious son until he was almost two months old. Thankfully the c-section was done right away or else baby Liam would have died also. There was barely enough oxygen for Karin herself, nevermind enough to support the baby.

Officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported that through late August, about 100 pregnant women in the United States required hospitalization in the intensive care unit for infection with the new strain of the H1N1 virus. Of these women, 28 so far had died due to complications directly associated with the virus.

A study that was published in the journal Lancet in August suggests that pregnant women are at much greater risk of severe complications from the H1N1 virus than the rest of the population.

Despite sobering warnings from the CDC that pregnant women are seven times as likely to be hospitalized with H1N1 and four times as likely to die from it, some women — with the advice of their doctors — are choosing not to get the vaccine because they fear its potential effects on their unborn babies.

Karin said that if she heard of a story like this while pregnant she would have definitely got the vaccine for it, had it been available. She knows just how lucky she is to have survived such an ordeal and have a healthy baby too.

“He’s perfect,” she said.

- Shannon Strohm, Staff Writer

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• Sick and Pregnant, But Not Always In The Morning
• Should School Boards Inform Parents About H1N1 Cases In Their Child’s Class?
• Expectant Moms Warned of H1N1 Risks

SOURCE

October 15th 2009 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. Why is such a day necessary?

Today is necessary because thousands of babies around the world are lost each day. Some to miscarriage, some are born still, some from sudden infant death syndrome and some as newborns.

It is necessary to get the word out there about pregnancy loss. To help families cope with a loss. To help them deal with the pain and sometimes guilt that is felt after losing a child.

On this day there is an international wave of light. This event is celebrated all over the world starting at 7pm. At this time you are to light a candle in remembrance of all the lost babies that have been born. Burning the candle for at least an hour means that throughout this entire day there will be a continuous wave of light for our lost children.

This day holds a special place in my heart. Today is a day for me to remember the babies I have lost. I miscarried in November 2008 at about six weeks and then I lost my baby boy, Hunter on March 28th 2009 at only 18 weeks 4 days.

I know with my experiences I felt very alone after the fact. You wonder what you could have done different. Why it had to happen to you. The pain is always there in your heart, but life does go on and each day gets a bit brighter.

I think this day is so important because so many people just don’t understand the pain that can be associated with pregnancy loss. I heard many times

“You are young, you have lots of time to try again.”
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”

NONE of these helped me. None of them made me feel better. The pain is very real. I think that a lot of time because these babies weren’t “known” that somehow this means that the emotional pain of dealing with the loss will be easier.

I will be lighting a candle at 7pm for my baby lost in November and for my sweet baby Hunter. And another for all of the other babies who had to leave this world too soon.

Have you suffered the loss of a baby? Did you find people were supportive and understanding? – Shannon Strohm, Staff Writer

If having identical triplets wasn’t amazing enough, a Pennsylvania couple welcomed them at 33 weeks gestation on their third anniversary.

Matthew, Nathan and Michael arrived on September 30 each weighing just over 5lbs each.

New parents Amanda and Matt Faher spoke to The Today’s show host Ann Curry this morning about the amazing delivery and Amanda’s complicated pregnancy.

The Fahers learned that Amanda was carrying triplets during a routine ultrasound 18 weeks into her pregnancy. The technician saw two fetuses, then spotted another. Understandably, Amanda was shocked — but she still had the presence of mind to ask the technician to please not find any more.

As the pregnancy progressed, Amanda contracted preeclampsia, a condition associated with multiple embryos that causes high blood pressure and toxemia late in the pregnancy. She also developed gestational diabetes.

Despite the complications, Amanda continued working from home during her pregnancy until the preeclampsia intensified and she was admitted to hospital.

After only eight days, doctors made the decision to take the babies by Caesarean. Just by coincidence, that same say was Amanda’s 33rd week of pregnancy, and the couple’s wedding anniversary.

Identical triplets — which are called spontaneous triplets in the medical literature — are a rare occurrence. In the United States, the odds of such pregnancies are one in a million. In other countries, the odds go as high as one in 200 million, which is higher than the odds of winning the Powerball lottery.

Related Articles:

• UK Mom With Two Wombs Welcomes Baby Girl
• German Mother Welcomes Identical Triplets
  
• Triplet Gives Birth to Triplets

Kourtney Kardashian looked beautiful as she showed off her growing baby bump last night in LA.

Possibly in preparation for her the big red carpet opening, the mom-to-be tweeted that she wanted sweets from Hollywood shop Famous Cupcakes.

“Honestly it’s worth the LBs. Those famous cupcakes are sooooo addicting. I need rehab! LOL Immm obsessed!”

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Motherhood agrees with Jennifer Hudson! The new mom recently gave People an intimate look into her new life as a mom.

Here are some of the highlights:

How hard was it keeping your pregnancy under wraps?

“David and I were the only people who knew for a long time. I would forget I was pregnant, it was so easy. I didn’t have any morning sickness, no cravings either. I just thought, ‘Oh, well, we’ll wait until it’ll tell on itself.’ I didn’t show until I was seven months so that made it easy right there.”

Your son was delivered via C-section, what was your recovery like?

“Everybody told me how much it was going to hurt afterwards but I think I have a different tolerance for pain than others. By that night after I had the baby, I’m like, ‘Look, I can’t sit in this bed anymore. I’ve got to get up!’ I’ve been up and about since he was born. To me, the pain is no different than when you work out a muscle you’ve never worked out before and it’s sore.”

Has his personality emerged yet?

“He has a lot of personality, like David. He’s always been a good sleeper. His favorite time to smile now is diaper changes. Or when he spits up on you – he just cracks up like he thinks it’s the funniest thing. And his bottle is his pacifier. With a pacifier, it’s like he knows, ‘Ain’t nothing come out of here. No, I don’t want that. Where’s the real deal?’ His best friend is that bottle; that’s all he wants.”

Would you be supportive if he wants to pursue a career in entertainment?

“We’ll definitely encourage education. His father is an education fanatic so we definitely want him to get an education and go to school. My mom always said, ‘Whatever you want to do, I’ll support you as long as you’re happy.’ So I will do the same.”

Tuesday night 28 year old Rinku Devi and her husband Bhola Rai were aboard 8181 Tata Chappra Express heading to the home of her parents. They were expecting their little bundle in about four weeks.

Feeling some pain in her abdomen she had got up from her seat and headed to the washroom on the train. To her shock and horror she gave birth into the toilet. Things happened so quickly that before she could grab the baby, he slipped through the pan of the toilet and fell onto the tracks.

Immediately she ran from the washroom and jumped from the moving train. People aboard thought she was commiting suicide and pulled the emergency alarm. By the time the train came to a stop it had gone about 2km.

We got off the train and started looking for my wife. After an hour, we found Rinku sitting beside the track with the baby in her lap,” said husband Bhola Ray (33), a businessman from Rourkela.

The new mom and baby were taken to the nearest junction which was Purulia station just after midnight, from where they were taken to the hospital.

Swapan Sarkar, the medical superintendent of the Purulia Sadar Hospital, said both mother and baby were doing fine.

Wow, I can’t even imagine giving birth into a toilet on a train and watch in horror as the baby falls down to the moving tracks below. And then to jump from a moving train without any second thought. I am so happy that mom and baby are doing well. Incredible! – Shannon Strohm, Staff Writer

Other Amazing Stories:

• Toddler Survives Being Pinned Under SUV
  
• Toddler Rides His Toy Truck 8 Miles Down The River

SOURCE