Post Delivery
Two days after birth, five of the eight infants received their first tube-feeding of donated breast milk. Josiah rejected his first tube-feeding and was returned to intravenous feeding, as his stomach was unable to absorb breast milk. At that time, three of the other infants had been fed intravenously since birth, and had yet to receive their first tube-feeding.
Six days after birth, all eight babies were breathing without assistance, and were being fed donated breast milk, as well as intravenous nutritional supplements. A hospital spokesman said the octuplets were expected to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.
One week after birth, the Suleman octuplets became the longest-living octuplets in United States history, as the smallest of the Chukwu octuplets born in Houston in 1998 died seven days after birth. Suleman set the Guinness World Record for Most Children Delivered At Birth To Survive.
Ten days after the birth of her octuplets, Suleman was released from the hospital. In her February 5, 2009 interview, Suleman stated that she holds each of the octuplets for 45 minutes a day, holding the smallest, a son named Jonah (born at 1 lb., 8 oz.) the longest.
The hospital where the octuplets were expected to spend seven to twelve weeks requested significant reimbursement from Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, for care of the eight premature babies.
Read more about this topic: Suleman Octuplets, Background
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