Oh boy. The diaper changes.... the mess..... the long hours.... times 6!! YIKES!!!
[DIV class=titleimage][img id=storyphoto height=210 alt="Tina Otten (left), of Granite City, Ill., holds her son Jacob as husband Ron looks on. Otten said some of her children have emerged as being happier on their own, while others demand more frequent attention. 'Some are kind of loners, they want to do things on their own and not be bothered by anybody,' she said, 'but then I have some that are big-time momma kids.'" src="vny!://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/canwest/111/vs_sextuplets_us_090107_210.jpg?size=l" width=210 border=0]
[DIV class=clear]
[DIV class=first align=center][FONT size=1][SPAN id=storyphotocaption]Tina Otten (left), of Granite City, Ill., holds her son Jacob as husband Ron looks on. Otten said some of her children have emerged as being happier on their own, while others demand more frequent attention. 'Some are kind of loners, they want to do things on their own and not be bothered by anybody,' she said, 'but then I have some that are big-time momma kids.'[/SPAN] [/FONT]
[DIV class=view align=center][SPAN id=storyphotocredit][FONT size=1]Photograph by : Associated Press[/FONT][/SPAN] [/DIV]
[H2]New parents face 500 diapers per week[/H2] [H4]Multiple-birth experts, parents eager to share their own experience about life with six new children[/H4] [H4][FONT size=1]Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun [/FONT][FONT size=1]Published: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 [/FONT][/H4]
[DIV class=para12 id=article] Tina Otten didn't miss a beat on Monday before dubbing her life as the mother of one of North America's few sets of sextuplets simply as: "crazy."
"That's all I can say," said the 32-year-old Illinois resident, who also has two other children. "They're nuts."
Otten gave birth to the six babies -- three boys and three girls -- on April 9, 2004, nearly 10 weeks earlier than expected.
Speaking in an interview from her home in Grand City, Ill., Otten was excited to hear the news of B.C.'s sextuplets, and quickly offered advice to the still-unidentified new parents.
"I'd say schedule, schedule, schedule. Everything needs to be on a schedule," said Otten, who already had two children when the sextuplets were born, bringing her family to a total of eight children.
"We had a feeding chart and a diapering chart. It just helped us to know how much they were eating and drinking in case we need to go up or down," she said, explaining she colour-coded bottles for each of the kids to help keep track.
As news of the birth of B.C.'s sextuplets swept across the country Monday, several multiple birth experts and parents were eager to offer their own advice about life with six new children.
"Certainly the financial outlay is going to be enormous," said Kerry Jang, a University of B.C. psychologist who works with numerous multiple birth families.
Jang said financial issues rate among the highest concerns for new multiple birth families as they contemplate how they will afford such a big change.
Otten said she and her husband -- who works at Ford Motor Company -- were buying about 500 diapers a week in the early days.
She said that number has now come down to about 300 diapers per week, and her family has been able to make ends meet without problems so far.
Still, Otten said, she worries about cutbacks at the local Ford plant, and about what might happen if her husband is laid off.
"It hasn't been bad yet, but I'm sure it's going to be headed there if he gets laid off," she said.
Gail Moore, spokeswoman for Multiple Births Canada, said on Monday the financial burden for families with multiple birth children can be quite onerous -- especially when the number is as high as six.
"It's the exact same cost for each baby, so you just multiply it by six and my goodness, unless somebody is going to be a good community minded person and start canvassing all of the non-profit organizations and charitable groups, that family is going to be in a really bad way in the next couple of years," she said.
In addition to financial worries, Jang said most parents of multiple birth children have trouble determining how to split their attention among the new babies, and how to give them each enough individual attention.
"That question always comes up with every parent of multiples I've ever spoken to -- do I treat my kids the same, do I have to be exactly equal, or do I treat them differently?" he said in an interview Monday.
In response, Jang said he tells parents to watch the kids as they grow to see what needs emerge.
[FONT size=1]Source: [/FONT][A href="vny!://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=7132410c-c490-42a8-987f-c31d2adf8565"][FONT size=1]vny!://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=7132410c-c490-42a8-987f-c31d2adf8565[/FONT][/A]
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