Siamese twins' separation broadcast

Saudi doctors have successfully separated Filipina Siamese twins Mae and Ann, aged just four months, in a 14-hour operation broadcast live on television and the Internet from a Riyadh hospital.

"The operation... was crowned with success," said surgeon Abdullah al-Rabiah.

Dr Al-Rabiah headed the 50-strong team, which worked into Saturday night at the King Abdul Aziz medical city.

The baby sisters were born on November 12, 2003 , in the Philippines .

The official Saudi Press Agency reports the pair are in good health and in a stable condition.

"It is their only chance, and a rare one, (for) a normal life," said their mother Marina Mazo.

The operation was paid for by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abul Aziz.

The twins were joined at the abdomen, the pelvis and the perineum.

"Each of the twins has complete sexual organs and they can live a normal life," said senior urologist Ahmad Al-Shammari.

The operation is the eighth separation surgery in Saudi Arabia , al-Rabiah said.

-- AFP

Ohio Woman Arrested After Twins Found Weighing Only 12 Pounds

Deputies Say Twins Are Severely Malnourished

UPDATED: 9:31 AM EST March 21, 2004

BENTON , La. -- A woman who left Ohio six weeks ago was arrested in Louisiana Saturday after sheriff's deputies found her 10-month-old twins severely malnourished.

The twins, Adian and Alexis, were found in Megan Zufall's house in Plain Dealing, La. , after authorities received an anonymous tip.

One investigator says the boy and girl weighed about 12 pounds and are too weak to suck on bottles.

The babies are being treated at LSU Hospital . They will be in the custody of the state when they are released.

Zufall is in jail on a $60,000 bond.

She had moved to the town in Louisiana 's northwest corner about six weeks ago. Her husband is in Ohio with his children by another woman.

Child welfare workers say they're checking on the condition of the children in Ohio .

Sextuplets Breathing On Own


Parents Provide Kangaroo Care

POSTED: 2:03 pm EST March 4, 2004
AKRON, Ohio -- Just a week after being born, the sextuplets, Isabella, Kyle, Logan, Alex, Lucy and Sophia are breathing on their own. Four of the Hanselman children were weaned from a CPAP machine. CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, delivers air pressure through a nasal tube to ensure the lungs' air sacs remain open while they're breathing.
"We're encouraged that all six Hanselman babies are breathing without assistance," said Dr. Anand Kantak, medical director of Akron Children's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. "Because the lungs of premature babies are too immature to allow them to breathe on their own, they often require respiratory assistance. But the sooner we can wean them from any type of assistance, the better." However, Kantak cautioned that it isn't unusual for premature babies like the sextuplets to require CPAP several times throughout their stay in the NICU. Even though the sextuplets are in critical condition, four of the six are stable enough to benefit from kangaroo care, skin-to-skin contact to promote parent/infant bonding. Both Keith and Jennifer provided kangaroo care Wednesday to Logan, Isabella, Kyle and Alex. The first of the sibling rivalry could be seen between Lucy and Isabella when they received kangaroo care from mom, Jennifer. "Isabella was trying to kick Lucy," Jennifer said. "Kyle and Logan seemed to be checking each other out while they were perched on Keith's chest. It is such a neat experience. Their bodies are so warm. And when you talk to them, they seem to definitely recognize our voices."

Georgia Reproductive Specialists

Twins and Triplets - A Thing of the Past?
Monday February 16, 3:54 pm ET Recently released CDC statistics show high success rates and low risk of multiple births with infertility treatment at Atlanta clinic

By Michael N. Graff
The Winchester Star

Terri and Mike Soder moved to Winchester about four years ago, hoping to start a family and eventually have two children.

When they discovered Terri was pregnant with twins, the Soders thought the situation was perfect.

Things wound up far from wonderful, though.

Complications forced Terri into pre-term labor 26 weeks into her pregnancy.

With the aid of several drugs — many of which were developed because of research from the March of Dimes — doctors were able to postpone a Cesarean section six more weeks. Terri delivered Justin and Jacob Soder after just 32 weeks.

The boys weighed a combined 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and both had respiratory distress syndrome.

“It just hurt; it hurt bad,” Terri Soder said. “It got very tiring. I was emotionally drained and physically drained.”

Now, as both play and act like everyday 22-month-old boys, it's hard for Terri and Mike to imagine how badly things could have ended.

“Without the research and without the drugs, I know Justin would not be here with us today,” Terri said.

The March of Dimes celebrates many similar success stories each year, mostly because of its largest fundraiser, WalkAmerica.

Jacob and Justin, now at healthy weights of 27 and 22 pounds, respectively, are the ambassador children for this year's Winchester March of Dimes fundraising efforts.

One portion of the campaign started Monday, as the twins sold the first sneaker cutouts in the March of Dimes sneaker campaign at Kmart, 1675 Pleasant Valley Road. Each sneaker cutout costs $1; the funds go to the March of Dimes.

Kmart has been in partnership with the March of Dimes for nearly two decades. Clerks at the store will sell blue sneaker cutouts to customers for $1 until the campaign ends May 9.

I hope to see the windows covered with blue shoes,” local WalkAmerica Chairwoman Tammi Collins said.

Last year, the Winchester Kmart raised more than $1,000 by selling the $1 shoe cutouts.

“A lot of people just automatically give the dollar,” said Donna Davis, team captain for Kmart's March of Dimes team. “I never realized how many people did until I started working with it. I think it's important because it's babies. Anything that has to do with children, I'm all for.”

Terri Soder, for one, can't thank the March of Dimes enough.

Justin, by far, was in much worse shape than his brother. The infant weighed just 2 pounds, 1 ounce at birth, meaning he was developed like a 26-week-old fetus.

“They didn't know if he was going to make it,” Terri Soder said.

Jacob eventually went home after 27 days at the Winchester Medical Center. Justin stayed put.

“The hardest part was when I was discharged,” Terri Soder said. “Going home without my kids was horrid. It was the worst thing in the world.”

Along with his underdeveloped lungs, Justin had an enlarged gall bladder, spleen, and liver.

Several times, doctors contemplated sending Justin to Charlottesville and the University of Virginia Medical Center. But each time, Justin would progress.

With the aid of several drugs like Surfactant, Justin left the hospital at 5 pounds — 72 days after birth.

“Now he's the spitfire of the two,” Terri said. “It's just amazing. He beat it all.”

Male triplets at higher risk for preterm birth

Differences in fetal sex hormones might explain research findings

Triplets are more likely to be born prematurely if there are more males in the mix.

"Essentially, male fetal gender predisposes to preterm birth," says Dr. Lillian Kaminsky, a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington . "It has been previously demonstrated that in singletons and in twins, male gender (also) predisposes to preterm birth."

Working with Dr. James Egan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, she looked at birth data on more than 17,000 sets of triplets.

Nearly 17 per cent of all-male triplets were born prematurely at less than 28 weeks. (A full-term pregnancy is 37 weeks.) If there were two males and one female in the triplets, less than 15 per cent were born before 28 weeks. And if the triplets consisted of all females or only one male, about 14 per cent were born before 28 weeks.

Kaminsky says researchers have proposed various explanations for the association between male gender and preterm birth. One possibility is differences in sex hormones.

"Maybe there is something the male fetus produces that predisposes to preterm birth," she says. "Finding the explanation might elucidate the actual mechanism of preterm birth, which is also by itself not known."

Triplets being considered for television show

By Jane Howard Lee
Baytown Sun

Published February 29, 2004

The incessant flashing of a red light ceases and comes to an end. I pull open the heavy door marked Stage 10 and enter a shadowy realm — behind the scenes in a Hollywood television studio. Not just any studio, this is part of Hollywood Center Studios, one of the legendary studios of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood. Many a hit has been filmed here. Many awards were earned by work performed here. Shows currently produced at this studio include “Star Search,” “Mad TV,” “Crank Yankers,” “The Man Show,” and on Stage 10, a popular Disney Channel TV series called “That's So Raven” is shot. But this week Stage 10 is where Baytown 's Gainer triplets are taking a shot at their own weekly television series. Shooting the pilot for “Triple Play” was the result of a year of preliminaries. It began when producer Irene Dreayer called and asked the girls' talent agent if she had any male twins of a certain age among her clientele. “No,” she said, “but I have these incredible triplets who are girls.”
Alyssa, Kaitlyn and Lauren Gainer, along with their mother and agent, met with Dreayer, and the wheels quickly began turning. A meeting with Matt Jackson, who is with talent relations for the Disney Channel, brought Disney into the mix.
A concept was created just for the triplets, then a script was written by Dreayer's close friend Dava Savel, who also now serves as co-executive producer for the project. The girls signed a contract with Disney and things got serious. There was a search for other actors, and final casting was completed just weeks before the shoot.
The girls spent some time in California last fall working with acting coaches, a dialogue coach and others, then they returned home for a breather. In late January they were off to California again. The pilot began rehearsals and shooting the week of Feb. 9 with the final scenes shot before a studio audience on Feb. 13.
On that final day, the BIG day, the day that I went to watch, excitement ran high. The huge studio was a warren of passageways leading around, behind and through sets decorated to be rooms in the fictitious Fuller family's home and a doughnut shop. There was much rushing (often on tiptoes) between dressing rooms and stages. Most scenes were shot at least three times, to be edited for the best, spliced in with different angle shots and made into an entertaining piece appropriate for a 30-minute situation comedy.
The cast includes some well-known faces and some not so well-known, but carefully chosen for their talent and suitability for the target audience.
Alyssa, Kaitlyn and Lauren Gainer play Alex, Karly and Lucy Fuller, newly adopted daughters of Pete and Maggie Fuller, who already had a teenage son, Harry.
Pete is played by Bruce Nozick whose face will be familiar to many, after the dozens of guest appearances he has made on prime time television series. Leigh-Allyn Baker plays Maggie Fuller but will be easily recognized by fans of the series “Will & Grace” as Ellen, a character that has shown up repeatedly since 1998.
Zac Efron has the role of Harry Fuller and will definitely give young female viewers someone new to think about, while Andre Jamal Kinney plays Harry's best friend, Baz, to charmingly comedic perfection. I saw both those young men in guest-starring roles on prime-time series last week and was again amazed at their talent.
To top things off, a very recognizable actress shores up the cast in the role of Roberta, a waitress in the doughnut shot who sports a beehive hairdo and an equally tall talent for snappy comebacks. She is none other than Marcia Wallace, best known for playing Bob Newhart's secretary, Carol, on The Bob Newhart Show — though the younger generation might recognize her voice from her role as the voice of Edna Krabappel on “The Simpsons,” for which she won an Emmy Award.
The Gainer girls held their own among the talented cast during the shooting, whether wallowing in a vat of batter, playing second (and third and fourth) fiddle to a scraggly dog with gas or just calmly taking direction from the director.
Parents Dana and Jerry Gainer maintained a professional and supportive presence throughout, though Dana admitted to quite a case of nerves later.
“I just can't believe they've come this far,” she said. “Those are my babies out there!”
The day's shoot went well. Several scenes were shot in front of the studio audience, then previously shot scenes were played from the audience members on video screens. They laughed in the right places. They ooohed and ahhhhed when appropriate. Things looked good.
Now only further tests will tell, and the Gainer girls can only wait and see if their future will hold “Triple Play” as a regular series on the Disney Channel.
Meanwhile, they are back in Baytown and in their regular school, at least until the agent calls with the next job or audition.

MOTHER OF TRIPLETS INVENTS BABY BREATHING AID
Central TV – UK

Peter Bearne

A mother of triplets, who devised a breathing aid to relieve congestion in babies, has seen her invention reach the supermarket shelves. Carolyn Moretto created the device out of a ballpoint pen and part of her husband's wine-making kit. Peter Bearne reports.
Inventor Carolyn Moretto says 'Place the nozzle at baby's nostril then gently suck on the tube'.
Carolyn Moretto demonstrates the device which has turned her from mother-of-three, into self-made businesswoman. She got the idea after the birth of her triplets Alex, Max and Georgia. Three months premature, they needed hospital treatment to help their breathing. But back home at Ilkeston in Derbyshire, Carolyn had nothing to relieve their congestion. Until she came up with her own homemade solution.
Carolyn says 'I made my own with my husband's home wine tubing and fixed that on to an old pen nozzle and I sucked it and it was great'.
So was born the "Baby Nose-Clear Nasal Aspirator.

It's now produced by a Nottingham healthcare firm. Twelve thousand were sold in its first year. Tesco's are already stocking it. Boots the Chemist are launching it next month.
Carolyn says 'You feel very very proud and it's great you can tell the children Mummy made that and it's really lovely'.
Carolyn's invention is designed to help young children breath, feed and sleep more easily. Until the time comes when they unblock that nose for themselves.

Triplets, quadruplets meet for special 2nd birthday party
By Amy Boerema Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted 3/1/2004

Ellen Shwatal and Jeanne Iovinelli already have plans for their children to get married.

Even though they just turned 2 Sunday.

Each the mother of triplets, the two moms joke about which of the Shwatal children is best suited for the Iovinelli kids.

It was part of the discussion Sunday when the families gathered to celebrate their kids' second birthday at a Glen Ellyn McDonald's, along with four other sets of triplets and one set of quadruplets.

The parents, who met through Triplet Tree, an informal local group of moms of triplets, all have kids who turned 2 in the past few months.

"We thought it would be fun for the 2-year-olds to get together," said Naperville mom Monica Sampias.

The toddlers, many of whom were dressed like their siblings, took over the restaurant's play area, climbing on plastic animals and eating birthday cupcakes. Moms said this local group, which meets once a month for dinner, is a great way for them to share stories and advice.

For many of the mothers, having triplets was an unexpected but wonderful surprise.

"You can't ever be prepared to raise three kids," Sampias said. "It's getting harder every day. But it's also getting more fun."

Shwatal, of West Chicago , said it can be challenging for her and her husband, Dan, to meet Madeleine, Austin and Nathan's needs at the same time.

"You get good at multi-tasking," she said. "You get through a day the best you can."

Lombard resident Iovinelli, who along with husband Mark has Frank, Grace and Sarah, said raising triplets has forced her to prioritize.

"It's hard," she said. "It's harder than I expected. I don't try to have a clean house. I play with them and teach them. Everything else can wait."

And though three toddlers fighting for attention and crying over toys can be difficult ("Some days it's like a play group gone bad," Sampias said) the good times, like learning to talk and walk are three times as good.

One of the best parts about raising triplets, according to the parents, is watching them interact. For example, the kids will get upset when one sibling isn't there.

"They just seem lost. They'll keep looking around," Shwatal said.

Sampias said her children, Ava, Madeline and Cole, often speak their own language which she can't understand. They also will fetch each other's special bedtime toys and comfort each other when one's hurt or crying.

"When Ava bumped her head, Madeline offered her juice," she said. "That makes the hard times worth it."

Because her children are used to being around each other, Sampias said they are extremely interactive and social with other children.

Having triplets is also the perfect play date, Shwatal and Iovinelli said. The women had their children within two weeks of each other and remain close, talking nearly every day.

The moms paired up Frank and Madeleine to get married. Austin and Sarah were matched because they're both the smallest and left-handed.

"And Grace and Nathan both just have very strong personalities," Shwatal said.

Though the kids are a bit young to date, they have taken a small step in the right direction - they know each other's names.

It's a start, anyway.

For more information about local triplet groups, e-mail danandellen1@msn.com.

EGYPTIAN TWINS FITTED WITH HELMETS

DALLAS , March 2 (UPI) -- The formerly conjoined Egyptian twins have been fitted with protective helmets in Texas until their skulls can be reconstructed.

Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim were joined at the crowns of their heads until they were separated in 34 hours of surgery last October in Dallas . They are scheduled to undergo more surgery later this year to close openings in their skulls.

The two-piece helmets were created by Jeanne Pomatto, founder and chief executive officer of Cranial Technologies, the Dallas Morning News reported. The headgear made of lightweight plastic weigh only 8 or 9 ounces.

Pomatto and her staff in Phoenix have donated their services along with Medical Modeling, a Colorado company that designed plastic models of the boys' heads.

Doctors at Medical City Dallas say the 2-year-old boys will be released from the hospital this month to stay with their parents in a nearby apartment.

TORONTO David and Frederick Barclay, the billionaire British twins who own London 's Ritz hotel, said on Tuesday that they had withdrawn offers to buy Conrad Black's majority stake in the Toronto-based newspaper group Hollinger Inc. No reason for the decision was given in a statement by the Barclays' company, Press Holdings International. Lekha Rao, who represents Press Holdings and is with an outside firm, declined to comment beyond the statement.

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The withdrawal comes less than a week after Hollinger International, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and The Daily Telegraph in London , won a court ruling in Delaware to block Black from selling his controlling stake. The ruling, by Judge Leo Strine of Delaware Chancery Court, may allow the company's board to auction its newspapers over Black's objections. The Barclays had offered more than 420 million Canadian dollars, or $313.6 million, for Hollinger Inc., the Canadian company that Black uses to hold 73 percent of Hollinger International's votes.

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Black quit as chief executive of Hollinger International in November and put the company up for sale after an investigation found he and three partners paid themselves $15.6 million without the board's approval. The investigation, by a special committee of Hollinger directors, also uncovered $16.6 million in undisclosed payments to Hollinger Inc.

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Black's ownership of The Telegraph earned him a British peerage and his departure heralded the end of a career in which he transformed Hollinger from a two-man partnership with a pair of Quebec weeklies into a newspaper empire that once stretched from Australia to Israel .

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Strine, the judge, concluded that Black had breached an agreement that barred him from selling Hollinger Inc.

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James Badenhausen, a spokesman for Black, and Paul Healy of Hollinger International did not immediately return calls.

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On Monday, Hollinger Inc. said it had not made an interest payment due March 1 on $120 million of its debt, the latest maneuver by Black for control of his newspaper empire. The holding company said in a statement that it had not technically defaulted on its senior secured notes due 2011 because it still had 30 days to make the interest payment and was trying to figure out how to do so. "Hollinger, together with its advisers, are continuing to actively examine Hollinger's available options in order to satisfy its obligations under the senior secured note indenture in a timely manner," the statement said.

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Badenhausen said the company had no comment beyond what was said in the statement.

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Hollinger Inc. owns about 72 percent of the voting control and 30 percent of the equity in Hollinger International Inc., which is based in Chicago .

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Black's lawyers had argued in Delaware that Black needed to consummate a deal with the Barclays to alleviate a potential funding shortfall at the parent company. Hollinger Inc. owes a $7.4 million in interest on the $120 million of notes, which are secured by the company's Hollinger International stake.

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Strine was not convinced by this argument. He said Hollinger International must offer short-term financing to the parent company to help make the interest payment. He also said Black, the former Hollinger International chief operating officer David Radler and a company controlled by Black must "live up to their substantial obligations" to Hollinger Inc. (Bloomberg, Reuters)

Move follows court ruling in Delaware blocking sale by Black

Twins' identical cells aid medical procedure

By Ruth A. Moller March 02, 2004