WASHINGTON/LONDON, 16 July — The condition of the Saudi septuplets born at Georgetown University Hospital last Thursday continued to improve yesterday as a second infant was able to breathe on its own.
“The babies are doing fine,” said Mutahar Fauzia, the supervising doctor and obstetrician. “There are no complications as of now,” she added.
All seven — five boys and two girls — have been put under phototherapy to treat jaundice, a common condition in newborns. Their mother was able to get up and walk a little yesterday. Dr. Fauzia said the parents, who visited the babies together on Friday, though nervous about how the infants would fare were happy about their arrival.
“Right now it’s joy and fear,” the Washington Post quoted Dr. Fauzia as saying. “When you are realistic and understand the situation, you are just praying. I was telling her, ‘Don’t worry. God will help you. We are doing our best’.”
Speaking to Arab News by telephone, Fahd Al-Qahtani, a 29-year-old student in Washington, said he was happy that Allah had compensated him with the septuplets after the death of two of his three children.
However, he was worried about the exorbitant costs of bringing up the seven babies. He thanked Interior Minister Prince Naif and Saudi Ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar ibn Sultan for their support.
Al-Qahtani has named two of his children after Prince Bandar and his wife in appreciation of their support. He named the five boys as Abdul Aziz, Abdullah, Sultan, Naif and Bandar and the two girls as Haifa and Sheema.
Al-Qahtani receives around $2,400 in monthly stipend from the Saudi government which will not be enough to sustain his now enlarged family. But generous offers of support continued to pour in. In the first 24 hours after the septuplets were born, the family received $4,500 in cash as well as other gifts including baby clothes, toys, car seats, diapers and bedding.
Donations have come from across the country, hospital officials said, and many more offers have been made but will not be tallied until after the weekend. Anyone interested in making donations may call 202-784-3422 or e-mail [email protected].
A prominent Saudi personality, who preferred to remain anonymous, has expressed desire to sponsor the septuplets.
Speaking to Arab News, he said he was ready to shoulder expenses of the children throughout their stay in Washington. He also promised to rent a four-room apartment and purchase a van for the family’s use.
The cost of delivery and related expenses so far have reached more than $1 million, hospital sources said, adding that the Saudi authorities would foot the bill.
The septuplets are expected to remain in hospital for several weeks. All seven infants are being monitored in the neonatal intensive care unit. The smallest of the septuplets, a girl, is one of the two infants off the ventilators.
The infants, the third set of septuplets to survive birth, were born about 11 weeks shy of full-term pregnancy.
Dr. Fauzia said their mother, who had taken fertility drugs, was recovering. “Mom walked to the bathroom,” she said. The mother planned to spend last night at the hospital, said Dr. Fauzia, who was to sleep in a playroom across the hall from the mother’s room. “The key is walking. You need a person to motivate her to do that.”
Aware of the potential complications the infants faced, the medical teams had rehearsed their roles several weeks in advance. Several members had canceled vacations or juggled schedules.
Georgetown spokeswoman Paula Faria said yesterday that the scene had changed dramatically from Friday. Then, special teams took care of each of the infants immediately after delivery. “The nurses and the staff are very, very happy,” Faria said.
