The new Skip Hop Studio Tote Bag Change bag for twins

The Skip Hop Studio tote is stylish enough to pair with a little black dress, but practical enough to keep you and babies stocked for a long day at the playground. With two insulated side pockets hold babies bottles, food and sippy cups, while 12 more pockets keep your phone, wallet, keys and other personal items dry, secure and within quick reach. The Studio adjustable buggy straps attach neatly and conveniently to the handlebars of most double buggies or unclip, and Studio converts back into a tote that will look chic well past babyhood.

* 14 pockets & zip-top closure (big enough for most laptops)

* Zip pocket protected by Agion®

* Two roomy insulated side bottle pockets

* Quilted cushioned changing pad

* Water-resistant inside & out

* PVC-free, eco-friendly materials

* Snap-down front pocket lets you stash a blanket/bib underneath

* Nickel feet keep Studio off the ground & scuff-free

* Hangs neatly on a buggy & can be worn over the shoulder

* Contrasting lining makes it easy to find what you need

Dimensions 43.2 X 30.5 X 15.2 cm

The new Skip Hop Studio Tote Bag Change bag for twins

The Skip Hop Studio tote is stylish enough to pair with a little black dress, but practical enough to keep you and babies stocked for a long day at the playground. With two insulated side pockets hold babies bottles, food and sippy cups, while 12 more pockets keep your phone, wallet, keys and other personal items dry, secure and within quick reach. The Studio adjustable buggy straps attach neatly and conveniently to the handlebars of most double buggies or unclip, and Studio converts back into a tote that will look chic well past babyhood.

* 14 pockets & zip-top closure (big enough for most laptops)

* Zip pocket protected by Agion®

* Two roomy insulated side bottle pockets

* Quilted cushioned changing pad

* Water-resistant inside & out

* PVC-free, eco-friendly materials

* Snap-down front pocket lets you stash a blanket/bib underneath

* Nickel feet keep Studio off the ground & scuff-free

* Hangs neatly on a buggy & can be worn over the shoulder

* Contrasting lining makes it easy to find what you need

Dimensions 43.2 X 30.5 X 15.2 cm

rgu - Mum of triplets struggles through to graduate

Iboro Edem (29), who has successfully completed her course despite giving birth to triplets only four months ago, will graduate at 2.30pm on Thursday 4 December with an MSc in International Marketing from the Robert Gordon University

Iboro, from Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, originally studied Communication Arts and worked as a Client Service Executive at LTC-JWT Advertising until 2005 when she joined Virgin Nigeria Airways as a Marketing Coordinator, responsible for branding and marketing communication. Iboro said, "I wanted to add more value to my CV and pursue new challenging responsibilities in multinational companies, so enrolled for the Masters at the Robert Gordon University."

Iboro and her husband Emmanuel Jude had to put all their savings towards her studies. Indeed, they were both accepted to study in the UK, but because they did not have enough finances to study simultaneously, he had to defer his offer while he continued to work in Nigeria to support her.

Five months before Iboro began the course in September last year, she sadly suffered a miscarriage when she was 20 weeks pregnant. She continues, "It was a very traumatic period for us." However, after one of her husband’s visits to her in November 2007, Iboro found out she was pregnant again.

Early in her pregnancy she went for a scan and discovered she was expecting triplets. She continues, "It was really shocking because there is no history of multiple births in either of our families. However, we accepted it as God's blessing for our previous loss."

Iboro continues, "It was not easy attending classes and carrying so much weight around. Sitting up to study and doing my coursework was very uncomfortable. I could not put in as much effort as I would have liked to and had to seek assistance from friends and lecturers to help with such things as borrowing heavy books from the library. I had to deal with fatigue, swollen feet, and pelvic pain from the weight. It was a relief after the second semester since I did not have to go out every day to attend lectures and could work on my dissertation from home."

At 34 weeks Iboro had to be admitted to hospital for close monitoring in case she went into early labour, with the target date for an elective c-section at 36 weeks so that the babies would be able to survive without neonatal care. At 35 weeks and six days, on 24 July, Iboro gave birth to three healthy baby boys Nathaniel, Johnathan and Ethan.

Iboro's mum came over to Aberdeen to help with the babies and stayed so that Iboro could complete her dissertation. She continues, "Being a go-getter, I just had to keep going with my dissertation even though I knew I was straining my health and was not giving the babies all the attention they required. I had the option of deferring but I chose to continue and, barely a month after giving birth, I returned to complete my studies. Even though the babies would be more settled when they are a few months older, my mum would not be here to help out and that would mean incurring expenses on child care.

"There were days when I barely wrote a sentence because I was shuttling from one baby to the other; however I made sure that I worked every other day. Most times, while my mum held two babies, I held one with one arm while typing my dissertation with the other!

"I was given an extension for my dissertation submission and was determined to meet this deadline. The babies needed to feed every three hours and just when we managed to feed the last one, we realised it was almost time for the next feed. So, I had to eat, scribble some words, and prepare to feed them again. I hardly ever had three hours straight sleep at night, and of course there was hardly any sleep during the day.

Regardless of how hectic it's been, studying here has been really worthwhile. Meeting people from different parts of the world and learning more about their cultures has been quite an experience. I thank my friends and lecturers, who were very helpful and supportive, without whom things would have been almost impossible. I thank God, my darling husband, our triplets, my family and in-laws for their love and support."

triplets products

Twin Faith still very ill in hospital

A BABY girl remained seriously ill in hospital last night after her conjoined twin died following emergency surgery to separate them.

Hope Williams died on Tuesday night after “one of the most complex and challenging operations” ever faced by medical staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, in London. Surgeons have given her sister Faith a 50-50 chance of survival, and she is still in a stable condition in intensive care.

A Great Ormond Street spokeswoman said: “Faith Williams is a very sick little girl. Great Ormond Street Hospital is doing everything it can for her.”

The twins were joined from the breastbone to the top of the navel and had a shared liver but separate hearts.

The girls’ mother, 18-year-old Laura Williams, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, is Britain’s youngest mother to give birth to conjoined twins. The twins’ father, Aled, hails from Anglesey.

Medical staff warned Mrs Williams and her 28-year-old husband that their babies might not survive after a 12-week scan revealed the problem but they refused to consider a termination.

inthenews - Caesarean birth 'increases asthma risk'

Children born by caesarean section are more prone to asthma than those delivered naturally, research claims.

A report published in the journal Thorax today found that by the time children were eight years old those who had been born by caesarean section were 80 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with the respiratory condition.

In a survey of almost 3,000 children, the connection between caesareans and asthma was even stronger for the nine per cent of children with two allergic parents.

They were almost three times more likely to be asthmatic by the time they were eight, compared with children whose parents were not allergic, who were around 36 per cent more likely to have this diagnosis.

The authors of today's report claim that the link between caesarean sections and an increase of asthma may lie in the timing of the priming of the immune system, as caesarean delivery delays exposure to microbes.

"The increased rate of caesarean section is partly due to maternal demand without medical reason," they claim.

"In this situation the mother should be informed of the risk of asthma for her child, especially when the parents have a history of allergy or asthma."

reuters - New York woman gives birth to sextuplets

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York woman gave birth to sextuplets -- four boys and two girls -- earlier this month, the Mount Sinai Medical Center said on Monday.

But Digna and Victor Carpio, who also have a seven-year-old son, kept the birth as secret for three weeks as their babies fought to survive, the New York Daily News reported.

The babies -- identified at the moment as A, B, C, D, E and F -- were born by Caesarean section on October 6 during the 25th week of pregnancy, about three months early, each weighing between 1.5 and 2 pounds (680 and 900 grams), the newspaper reported.

"I've watched each of my babies fight so hard to survive," Carpio, 31, told the Daily News. "Life is beautiful and we're so thankful."

The Daily News reported that the Carpio sextuplets are only the second set born in New York City.

The paper said all six babies have now very good odds of survival. The couple plans to name them before they turn one-month-old.

The hospital confirmed the birth of the sextuplets but gave no further details. Multiple births are often the result of fertility treatment but it was not known whether the parents in this case had undergone such treatment.

nj.com - Report links estrogen levels to joint replacement surgery for women

Women who've had multiple births, are on hormone replacement therapy or underwent early puberty are at significantly higher risk for knee or hip replacement surgery, reports one of the largest studies to look at the relationship between reproductive issues and joint replacement surgery.

The findings, published on-line today ahead of print in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, are based on the experiences of some 1.3 million middle-aged women in the United Kingdom. Researchers at the University of Oxford tracked the women beginning in 1996 for about six years -- from around the age of 50 upwards -- to see if they had a knee or hip replaced due to osteoarthritis, an inflammatory joint disease.

A little more than 12,000 required a hip replacement by the end of the study period and just under 10,000 needed a knee replacement.

After quizzing the women on how when they had their first and last periods, how many children they had and whether they had used oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), several patterns emerged.

If a woman started menstruation before the age of 11, her probability of having both hip and knee replacement surgery increased between 9 and 15 percent, the researchers found. Every successive birth increased the risk of a hip replacement by 2 percent and a knee replacement by 8 percent.

While previous use of oral contraceptives did not appear to have an effect, current use of hormone replacement therapy boosted the chances of a hip replacement by 38 percent and of a knee replacement by 58 percent, the study found.

"These findings, along with other evidence, strongly suggest that the female sex hormone, estrogen, plays a role in the development of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee and the subsequent need for joint replacement," lead study author Bette Liu, of the University of Oxford, said in an e-mail to The Star-Ledger.

Estrogen is a female sex hormone that controls the reproductive cycle, and prepares the body for pregnancy.

Liu cautioned that the is evidence is not strong enough to recommend women change their use of HRT. In fact, the study suggests that such "non-biological factors" as women having greater access to health services if they are on hormonal therapy could be a factor in them having joint replacement surgery.

Overall, women have a higher incidence of osteoarthritis, in particular of the knee, when compared to men, the study notes.

timesonline - Best of Times, Worst of Times: Jackie Clune

Jackie Clune, 42, is an actress and stand-up comedian. Three years ago she gave birth to triplets: Frank, Thady and Orla. Here she recalls her shock at learning she was pregnant, and how she coped with their battle to survive

I didn’t ever think I was going to have children. It wasn’t something I yearned for. Then I met Richard and suddenly felt very settled. I had my first child, Saoirse, when I was 37 — a dream baby. Then, 11 months later, I fell pregnant again. Rather casually, I left the first scan until 14 weeks. When they told me there were three, I was absolutely horrified. But then this innate Pollyanna sensibility kicked in and I thought: “It’ll be all right.” I’m not a worrier, which is lucky, because I could have worried myself to death over this. I phoned the Twins and Multiple Birth Association. The first thing the woman said was “Congratulations, you’re a very special lady,” which appealed to the diva in me enormously.

I tottered into my appointment with a foetal medicine expert saying: “I’m having triplets! I’m special!” He then explained all the risks: placental failure, miscarriage, chromosomal abnormality, early labour and the possibility of them not surviving their first few weeks of life. After that I didn’t feel special any more: I felt like a cat producing a litter.

It took months to get my head around it. We didn’t have any money. We’d just bought a big house in north London and didn’t know how we were going to pay the mortgage. I was doing bits of stand-up, but our income was pretty low. By 20 weeks I looked full-term. By week 30 I was hiring mobility scooters at Asda.

I couldn’t get upstairs, couldn’t sit, couldn’t stand, couldn’t sleep. It was just atrocious. I begged to be delivered at 31 weeks because I couldn’t breathe.

I felt as though I had a family of labradors sitting on my chest, and it was scaring me. By the time I delivered at 35 weeks, my stomach measured 55 inches and I’d lost my sense of humour completely.

There were 20 people in the operating theatre for my caesarean. Boy number one, Frank, was whisked past me to the Nicu [neonatal intensive care unit]. Then his identical twin, Thady, disappeared. Their sister, Orla, the smallest, was fine, but by 10 o’clock that evening, 12 hours later, I still hadn’t seen the boys. I’d been told a day in the womb is equal to a week in an incubator, but it hadn’t hit me what that actually meant.

Finally, a paediatrician said the boys’ lungs were very immature and they’d both been intubated. When I eventually saw them they had wires everywhere and huge tubes stuck down their gullets. At first we were told they’d be there for a few hours, which turned into weeks. The doctors tried to take them off their respirators, but they couldn’t cope. It was days before I even touched them.

I’d shuffle round to deliver expressed breast milk, and when I came back Orla would be lying silently in the dark, which made me cry. It was as if she’d got used to the idea that she had to share me.

After a couple of weeks the boys’ nasal tubes were taken out for a few minutes to let me breast-feed. Then, one day when I’d just fed Thady, I turned round to pick up Frank and I heard a nurse behind me say: “Call a doctor!”

In those seconds Thady had stopped breathing and was changing colour from pink to blue. He was rushed away and I watched as if it were an episode of ER.

It felt like an out-of-body experience.

I’d felt guilty I hadn’t bonded with the boys, but in that instant I was so upset and shocked and shaken, the floodgates of maternal love opened. The Nicu was a place of extraordinary emotional extremes. One night, a mum lost a baby. I was awake and heard her screaming, and In the morning the cot next to Frank’s was empty. The other extreme was the baby born on Christmas Day weighing under 500 grams. He’d been there five months and I never once saw anyone visit. A nurse said: “Sometimes the mothers never come back.”

When I brought them home, people said: “How will you manage three newborns and a toddler?” But having a five-year-old and three three-year-olds is much harder. I’ve also done a few big runs: Mamma Mia! when they were seven months old, and now Billy Elliot, and I’m pathologically tired. The boys battle constantly. It can’t be easy having a brother who looks just like you and who has the toy you want. I’ve tried to be a bit existential about it, but you still want to brain them. When I was pregnant they were all crunched together, nose to cheek, elbows sticking in each other’s bums, and they’re still like that — they move in a huddle, battling like mad. Thady is the most difficult. He screams and cries and throws himself on the floor and it’s hard not to get wound up — he really does push you over the edge. But somehow I’m able to take a step back, because everything that happened informs my relationship with him. I remember the day I saw him nearly die and something in me goes: “It’s okay. He’s having a tantrum, but he’s here.”

Jackie Clune is now appearing as Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot: The Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London

bbc - Sextuplets born in Berlin clinic

The first German sextuplets for 20 years have been born in a clinic in the capital Berlin and are said to be in a stable condition.

Independent specialists said that the four girls and two boys, who each weigh between 800 and 900 grams (1.8-2lb), had a good chance of survival.

The first confirmed case of sextuplets surviving past infancy was recorded in Cape Town in South Africa in 1974.

They remain rare, occurring in about one out of 4.5m pregnancies.

Correspondents say multiple births have become more common with the advent of hormone therapies and in vitro fertilisation.

The babies were born prematurely at 27 weeks in Berlin's Charite clinic on Thursday, the clinic said on Monday.

The names of the parents were not being released immediately.

peterboroughtoday - Special day for city's three tiny miracles

THREE tiny miracles who made the headlines because of their 200 million to one odds were christened in a city church yesterday.

Identical triplets Gabriella, Olivia and Alessia were baptised on Sunday afternoon at St Peter and All Souls’ Church.

Proud mum and dad Carmela Testa (23) and fiance Richard Rees (23) were joined by dozens of their family and friends for the service in the Geneva Street Catholic church.

The triplets were born in Peterborough District Hospital on January 9 this year, seven weeks premature and weighed between 3lb 4 and 3lb 10oz at birth. After yesterday’s service, the parents, from Walkers Way, Bretton, spoke of the joy the three girls had brought them.

Carmela, a midwife at Peterborough District Hospital, said: “It has been a very hectic year. But we come from an extended family and our parents and other relatives have been a great support to us.”

And Richard, a vocational coach, admitted the three were “a real handful, but very enjoyable”.

He said: “Getting them all outside the house has been a bit of a challenge, and getting them to settle at night can be tough, but it has been an amazing nine months.”

Father David Jennings, who conducted the service, said: “This is a unique celebration for the parish. Identical triplets are a first for me, and I think for the parish and the city as well.”

Giving birth to naturally-conceived identical triplets is so rare, some experts have said it might happen in just one in 200 million cases.

The triplets caught the public’s imagination after The Evening Telegraph reported their birth in April, and they were featured in national newspapers and TV news reports.

northern-times - Airlift drama as twins arrive early

SPECIALIST staff and emergency equipment were flown by air ambulance from Inverness and Aberdeen to the Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie on Monday as a mother went into premature labour with twins.
Justine Ainsworth, from Loth, near Helmsdale, went into labour on Monday, in the 31st week of her pregnancy, and was taken to Golspie as delivery seemed imminent.

Twin number one (Milo) was born at 10.37am by natural delivery and weighed in at 4lbs. However, support was requested from Raigmore Hospital in Inverness after twin number two (Max) kept everyone waiting and it was decided to deliver him by Caesarian section.Staff and equipment from Raigmore were taken by road and air to Golspie, a specialist neo-natal retrieval team was flown in from Aberdeen, and a staff member based in Wick drove down to Golspie.
Max was born at 1.20pm and transferred by helicopter to Raigmore, while mum and Milo went by road. Justine and the boys are now recovering well and have had a visit from dad, Leon, and big brother Luke (13 months).
Director of nursing and midwifery at Raigmore, Heidi May, said this week: "The staff have responded fantastically well in difficult circumstances. We're very pleased with the twins' progress and are continuing to monitor their condition closely."
Justine and Leon want to say a big thank-you to all the staff involved at Raigmore and the Lawson, as well as those from Wick and Aberdeen. In particular they praised the midwives from Golspie, Brora and Helmsdale – Beatrice Oliphant, Kay Mackinnon and Janice Macrae – and consultant obstetrician Dr Brian Reid and his team at Raigmore.
Said Justine: "Everyone was very calm and we are very grateful to them. We would also like to thank our childminder, Denise Mackay, for taking in Luke at such short notice."

mirror - My baby gave her twin cancer... in the womb

Weeks after she gave birth to two girls Alissa Dunn was dealt a double blow – in an incredibly rare case one of her daughters caught cancer from the other. Here she describes their fight..
When my two-month-old daughter Maddie’s stomach became bloated I didn’t think it was anything serious.
Even when she vomited, I thought it would be nothing more than a tummy upset. But at a check-up for Maddie and her identical twin sister Bella, the doctor told me she needed to go to hospital.
I began to fear the worst. And soon my fears were confirmed – Maddie had cancer.
But a few days later things got worse. Maddie had given it to her twin sister too, while they were both growing in my womb
I’d had a trouble-free pregnancy. Maddie and Isabella – who we call Bella – were born at 37-and-a-half weeks on July 4.
Isabella was born first at 4.28am, weighing 5lb 12oz. Then under 15 minutes later Maddie came along, weighing 5lb 8oz.
I had a feeling I was having boys so it was surreal when I saw these two perfect little girls. We already had a son, Isaiah, three, but I’d always wanted a girl so I felt our family was complete.
Just 24 hours later I took the girls home. They were very docile babies, and by eight weeks they were sleeping through the night.
Then, a few days before their two-month check-up, Maddie seemed a bit off-colour. Her tummy was slightly bloated and she vomited too.
The doctor prescribed drops, for wind, but she was still unwell at her check-up. The doctor said Maddie needed X-rays and I began to feel that something was horribly wrong.
On the way to the hospital I looked at my husband Michael, 32, and without thinking, I blurted out: ‘What if it’s cancer?’
I don’t know why it crossed my mind. But I clung to Bella while the doctors ran tests on Maddie.
A few hours later doctors broke devastating news.
Maddie had a neuroblastoma – a massive cancerous tumour in her abdomen. She was admitted to intensive care, where the doctors fussed round, covering her in tubes and wires as I willed her to pull through.
It was the worst moment of my life. I had to stay strong for Bella and Isaiah but all I could think about was Maddie lying in her tiny incubator.
Then, three days later, when she came to visit, I noticed that Bella’s tummy was swollen too. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
We rushed to tell the doctors straight away. I prayed there was no way lightning could strike twice.
But after countless tests, the doctors diagnosed Bella with cancer too.
It didn’t feel real.
The only difference was that while Maddie had a tumour, Bella didn’t. Her body was full of cancerous cells – in her bone marrow and blood, but not growing in a ball like Maddie’s. The doctors decided there was only one way it could have happened – Bella had ‘caught’ cancer from her sister through the placenta while they were still in the womb.
Because they shared the same blood, the cancer had passed between them. It was only the ninth recorded case of it happening in the world. The girls needed urgent treatment.
Maddie’s cancer was stage four – the worst kind.
I knew deep down what the prognosis could be, but it was still a shock when the doctors said that she only had a 20 per cent chance of survival.
Bella would have to go through chemotherapy too. All I could do was hope the doctors could mend their tiny bodies before the cancer took hold completely. They lay in intensive care surrounded by wires while I looked on helplessly.

Watching the girls fight it was agony. Worst of all I couldn’t pick them up because of risk of infection. And they were in so much pain that touching would have worsened it.
As their mum there was nothing I could do. I told myself I had to stay strong so they could take strength from me. I was sure they could feel my desperation, though.
And the girls were so amazing throughout they made us braver. No matter how much they were poked by the doctors, they would just cry for a second and then let the doctors get on with it. They were my inspiration.
But as their tufts of soft hair fell out from the chemo, my heart broke. I should have been watching my girls grow into toddlers, not waiting to find downy hair on their pillows.
While Isaiah stayed at home with my family, Michael, my mum and I lived in a special house for families with children at the hospital, so we could be close to the girls.
Maddie was on a ventilator because she couldn’t breathe on her own and they were both on big doses of morphine.
But I needed to be with Isaiah too. He was so young and needed his mum. And thankfully my mum, Lora, always stayed with the girls when I went home to see him.
One day, about three weeks after the girls were admitted, I came home and saw their babygrows in the airing cupboard.
I lost it. I screamed and cried, all my anger and fear pouring out.
I felt so cheated that these first weeks of their life were being snatched from me and that they might not ever make it home again.
Finally, 44 days later, the doctors said the girls were well enough to come home with us. I held them close as I carried them to the car.
They’d been through two gruelling rounds of chemo and still needed more anti-cancer drugs. But all that mattered was I could have them with me, in their room at our house in Grand Blanc, Michigan, USA.
Having them back home with us was amazing. Just being able to bathe and feed them was a joy. Though we did have to take the girls back to hospital for more treatment.
On December 20, 2007, we got the news I’d hoped so badly for. After four rounds of chemotherapy my little girls were cancer-free. It felt so amazing. I couldn’t believe they’d both beaten the cancer.
It’s a year on now, and both girls are doing well. Their hair has grown back, and they are both full of life.
They still need regular scans and blood and urine tests to check the cancer hasn’t returned, and it’s hard not to want to wrap them up in cotton wool.
They can both walk already – it’s such a change from seeing them lying in their hospital cots surrounded by wires – and as they totter around the house I feel so lucky.
Some people have asked me whether I’ll tell Maddie she ‘gave’ Bella cancer, and of course I will. It’s nothing to feel bad about – she had no control over it
And in a weird way I think it’s for the best that Bella got it too. Otherwise Bella couldn’t have been with Maddie through her treatment and I’m sure it was their incredible bond that gave Maddie the strength to fight.
Dr Bruce Morland, a consultant specialist in children’s cancer and the Chairman of Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group, says: “This is fantastically rare.
“Neuroblastoma is one of the more common tumours. But like leukaemia it’s blood borne and as identical twins share a blood supply and a placenta then it can be ‘caught’.
“However it’s a one-way stream, so the mother won’t catch it. It couldn’t happen with non identical twins as they don’t share a placenta or blood supply.
“Neuroblastoma is quite common among infants and it’s not uncommon to be diagnosed on a scan or early in a baby’s life. Fortunately the majority of infants with neuroblastoma can be cured.”

bridlingtonfreepress - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will have to - so how do you cope with twins?

Following news that Angelina Jolie gave birth to twins, we look at what she and partner Brad Pitt will be going through in the early days and ask the experts how they'll cope as they welcome the babies into their family.
Hollywood's golden couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt – already the parents of four children – are now celebrating the birth of twins.Angelina, 33, gave birth to a boy, Knox Leon, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline, by Caesarean in a hospital in the South of France. Brad, 44, was by Angelina's side. The tiny pair –- weighing around 5lb each – join Cambodian-born Maddox, aged six, Vietnamese-born Pax Thien, four, and Ethiopian-born Zahara, three, as well as the couple's biological daughter, two-year-old Shiloh.The wealthy superstars undoubtedly have already experienced some of the highs, lows and demands of parenthood with their multicultural "rainbow" family. But having twins is a uniquely challenging – as well as joyful – experience according to childcare experts and other famous parents of twins.TV presenter Alice Beer, mother of five-year-old twin girls Dora and Phoebe warns: "No matter how much money you can throw at it, those early months with twins are inevitably blooming hard work! So although having twins is incredible it's also non-stop and exhausting."There are around 11,000 twin and multiple births each year in the UK and that average is set to rise as women delay parenthood until after 30 and are increasingly overweight – both factors which raise the likelihood of twins. Alice, co-author with leading baby expert Gina Ford of the book A Contented House with Twins admits: "Nothing quite prepares you for the reality of having twins."Those first weeks were quite a shock. I had a Caesarian like Angelina and so I was not only sore and fragile after having an operation but also having to cope with two babies instead of just one."There are have been reports the first photographs of the film star couple and their twins are going for £8 million – a fee they plan to donate to charity.Alice, 43, says that she agreed to a Hello! exclusive, with the fee going to charity Tamba (the Twins and Multiple Births Association, www.tamba.org.uk). Alice jokes: "I'd advise Angelina not to rush to have those photos done. I must have been high on some kind of hormone when I agreed to it!"The twins were only about four months old when the magazine came and I was still finding it pretty stressful even to get myself organised enough to leave the house with the twins in tow, let alone getting them both looking perfect – at the same time – in their best outfits for photographs!" She adds: "You can't anticipate how much of your life is going to be stolen by these tiny babies. It's unbelievable."My husband Paul and I, who pre-twins were incredibly organised and punctual, found we always got everywhere two hours late – if at all."And she has some advice for Brad and Angelina. "You need to be a team. That's the way Paul and I got through. He would hold one baby and walk around with her while I fed the other, or we would be cuddling them both together.
With twins both of you always seem to have your hands full with one of them."For Brad and Angelina there will have been the initial joy and relief at the birth of healthy babies – twins are more likely to be premature and Angelina's planned Caesarian was brought forward for "medical reasons". GP Dr Carol Cooper, who is also a parent of twins and author of Twins And Multiple Births, says the higher risk of post-natal depression is not surprising: "Think two babies crying at different times, waking at different times and wanting feeding at different times. Life can become just looking after the babies 24/7."Brad and Angelina are privileged and wealthy, but for ordinary couples there may be the added stress of affording two of everything, perhaps even having to get a larger car or house. It can all add to the strain."Family and friends may underestimate the early challenge of twins, she adds. "Naturally everyone is happy for you when you have a baby – and especially two which may be a novelty in the family. But if everyone around you keeps saying, 'You're so lucky! How marvellous! Twins!' it can heighten your feelings of inadequacy if you're actually not always feeling lucky but are anxious, worried you're not coping and feeling low following the births. "Things that are straightforward with a single baby become difficult if not impossible with two. For instance, if you're holding two babies you have no hands free so you can't shut a door, make a snack or answer a phone – all possible when holding just one baby. It's helpful if family and close friends offer to do practical things for you to give you a break." Dr Cooper had an son of two when her twins (now 21) were born. "In general, a child that age can find it hard to adjust to the arrival of one baby – let alone two. They feel jealous and pushed aside and once it dawns on them that the babies are not going to be sent back – young siblings often think this is an option in the early days! – they can be quite troublesome."It's all attention seeking and will usually settle quickly as long as the parents give the child separate attention to make them feel special, too."Rumour has it that Brad and Angelina have already sought advice from other celebrity parents of twins particularly Julia Roberts and Danny Moder – who have a son and a daughter now three, Phinnaeus and Hazel.Brad is said to have asked Julia (Brad's co-star in Ocean's 11) whether there were different rules for bringing up twins as opposed to single children, to which she replied: "It's the same – only twice as hard!"

guardian - France: Woman, 59, is oldest mother of triplets

A woman in France has become the oldest known mother of triplets after giving birth at 59, reigniting the debate about late pregnancy and so-called fertility tourism.
The woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, is of Asian origin and had fertility treatment in Vietnam. She gave birth by caesarean section at the weekend, the Cochin maternity hospital in Paris said yesterday. The triplets, two boys and a girl who weighed 2.3kg (5.1lb), 2.1kg and 2.4kg, were described as being in good health.
But fertility experts said it could not be taken as proof of the success of late pregnancies. It is illegal for French IVF clinics to treat women deemed too old to reproduce naturally. The age limit is generally 42, and the number of embryos used is limited to lessen the risk of multiple births.
"[Fertility laws] are there to treat infertility," Professor François Thépot, medical director of France's Biomedicine Agency, told Agence France-Presse. "We do not want to turn them into a new means of procreation for people who would like to have children out of the natural context."
The trend for women to seek IVF treatment in countries with less stringent regulations - dubbed fertility tourism - has prompted concern from specialists. A woman of 44 who had IVF in Greece against the advice of her French doctors has been in a coma since June after giving birth to healthy triplets in Angers.
"The complications are manageable until about 42, 43 years old," said Professor René Frydman, the doctor behind France's first test tube baby, in 1982. "But after that you're going into the danger zone, in particular around 60. The heart just isn't made for it,"
The previous oldest mother of triplets is thought to be an unidentified Italian woman of 57.

dailyrecord - Mum blasts bus company after being told baby triplets can't ride for free

A MUM who was told she must pay to take one of her baby triplets on a bus has accused bosses of discrimination.
Carolyn Armstrong says she was "outraged" when drivers told her only two children under five could travel free.
They refused to back down even though the family do not use a single seat and Carolyn already pays for six-year-old son Euan.
Full-time mum Carolyn, 43, parks her double buggy in the wheelchair bay at the front of the bus and stands with the third triplet in a carrier on her back.
She gets off the bus if a wheelchair user requires the space.
But she says the only reply she has received to her complaints from Lothian Buses - in which Edinburgh City Council are the major shareholders - has been a copy of their policy.
Most other firms, including First Bus, say drivers are encouraged to use discretion when it comes to babies. They say mothers need not pay unless the children are occupying seats.
Former British Airways purser Carolyn, from Corstorphine, Edinburgh, said her husband Ricky, 49, a finance manager for Alliance Boots Pharmacies, often works away.
That leaves her to cope with 21-month-old triplets Ben, Laura and Grace and Euan alone.
She said: "I have always used the bus to get into the city centre - the number 26. But when I took the triplets I was shocked to be asked to pay extra money.
"I pay for Euan. If my babies were walking about and sitting on seats then I would have no problem paying for them too.
"But two stay in the double buggy while I have the other baby in a backpack on my back while I stand. They don't charge if you have a rucksack on your back.
"It is hard enough being in charge of triplet babies and I find myself limited in what I can do and where we can go now.
"I've written to Lothian Buses on several occasions but they just quote their policy. Some of the drivers have been quite rude."
She added that the firm's policy was "blatant discrimination".
A spokesman for Lothian Buses said: "Our conditions clearly state two children under the age of five can travel free with every full farepaying passenger. Additional children pay the child fare of 60p."
A spokeswoman for the Twins and Multiple Births Association said: "This is shocking. It is difficult enough to get out when you have twins, triplets or more in the first place."

irishhealth - Caesarean mums not as responsive to crying

Mothers who give birth vaginally are more responsive to the cries of their baby compared to mothers who have a Caesarean section, the results of a new study indicate.The number of women undergoing Caesarean sections in Ireland has been rising steadily in recent years. According to the latest figures available, one in four births (25%) in Irish hospitals are now by Caesarean, compared to just 12% in 1992.Researchers at Yale University in the US carried out MRI scans on women up to four weeks after giving birth. They found that mothers who had given birth vaginally were significantly more sensitive to their own baby’s crying. This was noted in the scans in the regions of the brain that are believed to regulate emotions, motivation and habitual behaviours.According to the researchers, the capacity of adults to develop the thoughts and behaviours needed for parents to care successfully for their newborn infants is supported by specific brain circuits and a range of hormones.They noted that a vaginal birth involves the release of oxytocin, a key hormone linked with maternal behaviour, while a Caesarean section does not.“We wondered which brain areas would be less active in parents who delivered by Caesarean section, given that this mode of delivery has been associated with decreased maternal behaviours in animal models and a trend for increased postnatal depression in humans,” explained lead author, Dr James Swain.He said that their results support the theory that variations in delivery conditions, such as with a Caesarean section, ‘alter the neurohormonal experiences of childbirth and might decrease the responsiveness of the human maternal brain in the early postpartum’.

Daily Mail - Fergie: Manchester United's new Brazilian twins have a bright future at Old Trafford

Sir Alex Ferguson believes his new Brazilian twins will have a bright future at Manchester United.
Right-back Rafael Da Silva played in the whole of United's friendly win at Peterborough on Monday.
And his twin Fabio played 45 minutes, replacing Patrice Evra on the other side of United's defence.
Ferguson said: 'The young players were fantastic and young Rafael the right-back was a sensation for me.
'I thought it was a real eye opener for us. He hadn't played for a year but he's played a full 90 minutes.
'His brother Fabio has played 45 minutes and he's also done well so we're really pleased by their contribution.
Asked whether Rafael could be on the way to a place in the first team, Ferguson said: 'You know what football's like. Sometimes it turns up some star, some little nugget maybe.
'I think we have got a good player here.'

BBC - Septuplet joy for Egyptian couple

An Egyptian woman has given birth to seven babies in the northern city of Alexandria, doctors said.
The mother, named as 27-year-old Ghazala Khamis, is said to be well and the septuplets - four boys and three girls - are reported to be stable.
The babies are said to weigh between 1.45 and 2.8kg (3-6lb); the couple already have three girls.
They sought fertility treatment hoping to have a boy, and were said to be astonished at the multiple pregnancy.
Since the introduction of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment 30 years ago, the number of multiple births has increased dramatically.
Health experts say septuplets are very rare, and it is even less common for all to survive.
The seven were delivered by Caesarean section a month early, and all have been placed in incubators designed for premature babies.
The woman's brother said that the Egyptian health minister had promised free milk and nappies for the babies for two years, to help the family cope.

Reuters - Rare sextuplets born in Iraq, four survive

NASSIRIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - A woman has given birth to rare sextuplets in southern Iraq, but two of them died because the hospital lacked the proper equipment to keep them alive, her doctor said on Saturday.
Some Iraqi media described it as the first birth of sextuplets -- six children born at once -- in the country, although this could not be verified.
Sextuplet births are extremely rare although fertility treatments have increased the frequency of multiple births.
"Two of the children died because of problems breathing," said Dr Ali al-Jabiri, in charge of premature infants at Al-Habboubi Hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya.
"If we had suitable medical equipment then we could have saved them," he added.
The babies all weighed between 700 and 1,200 grams (24-44 ounces). Two boys and two girls survived. Their mother had used fertility drugs.
"The problem is, how can I take care of them? How to feed them?" said their mother, Ibtisam Najim Abid, at the hospital.

mirror - Meet the Quains* (ER, THAT'S QUADS WHO ARE ALSO TWINS..)

These two sets of twins are doubly special - they are also quads.
Ivf tots Andrew and Sienna were born to Karen Wesolowski, and Sophia and Alex to lesbian partner Martha Padgett. All four babies were conceived from Martha's eggs.
Just as unusually both gave birth on the same day. They opted for the double IVF as Karen, 42, had suffered three years of failures. Once Martha, 38, had her eggs fertilised with donor sperm, each woman got two embryos to boost their chances.
Martha, a nurse who already has a 10-year-old daughter, said: "We just wanted one baby. But when the doctor said we were both pregnant, we could hardly contain ourselves."
The couple, of Riverside, California, got a bigger shock when they learnt within a month how many tots were on the way.
Martha said: "We knew from research we'd done that there was a chance but we laughed it off. Once we heard four heartbeats we thought, 'Oh my God, we're going to have quads!' We couldn't believe it."
The final amazing coincidence came as both gave birth within 22 hours of each other. The non-identical tots, a year old next month, are all healthy.
Karen said: "We have four babies who are all brothers and sisters. Our family is complete." Keith Reed of the UK Twins and Multiple Births Association admitted: "This is very unusual."
Baby boom
The odds of having a multiple birth without IVF is just two per cent. But with IVF the risk rockets to 25 per cent.
Large family
The largest surviving multiple birth is the McCaughey septuplets born in Iowa, USA, in 1997 to Kenny and Bobbi.