The mother of a set of Sᴇxᴛᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs born in Alabama over Father’s Day weekend today revealed how she had to consume 6,000 calories each day just to keep them nourished. She and her husband Mitchell also revealed they have named the six alphabetically, after the letters ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs gave them when they were still in the ᴡᴏᴍʙ: Abbie, Brooklyn, Chloe, David, Ellie and Faith.
She Gᴀᴠᴇ Bɪʀᴛʜ to the Sᴇxᴛᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs by planned Cᴀᴇsᴀʀɪᴀɴ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ on Saturday morning, 28 weeks and one day into her ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, after a month of sᴛʀɪᴄᴛ ʙᴇᴅ ʀᴇsᴛ – including her 30th birthday. They arrived in the space of just three minutes, the eldest, Abbie, at 8.05am and the youngest, Faith, at 8.08am, and weighed between 1lb 10oz and 2lbs 5oz. All of them ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʙᴏʀɴ very healthy, and that weight spread is a good sign that there was not one baby that was lagging behind, that all of them had grown and developed well.
The babies were welcomed into the world by a team of 51 ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀʟ sᴛᴀꜰꜰ, who had rehearsed the ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀʏ six times before. Each baby had their own group of ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴜʀsᴇs. The 30-year-old provoked laughter from the assembled press as she described her 6,000 calorie-a-day diet. She said: “It was very hard. They had me keep a sheet of everything I ate, and they would always do the calories for it. And all of the snacks, every day they would start bring me snack foods and desserts. I mean, it was very good, but I can’t imagine doing that again.” The week before she Gᴀᴠᴇ Bɪʀᴛʜ, she said she could feel exactly where each of the babies were sitting: one on each hip, three lower down on her ᴘᴇʟᴠɪs and another which moved up and down.
The couple had sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇᴅ for years to have children, and Mrs Carroll had four ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs before being diagnosed with ᴘᴏʟʏᴄʏsᴛɪᴄ ᴏᴠᴀʀɪᴇs. To have Grant, Mrs Carroll underwent ɪɴᴛʀᴀᴜᴛᴇʀɪɴᴇ ɪɴsᴇᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, in which she took ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴅʀᴜɢs ᴛᴏ ʙᴏᴏsᴛ ʜᴇʀ ᴏᴡɴ ᴇɢɢ production before her ʜᴜsʙᴀɴᴅ’s sᴘᴇʀᴍ ᴡᴀs ɪɴᴊᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴅɪʀᴇᴄᴛʟʏ ɪɴᴛᴏ ʜᴇʀ ᴜᴛᴇʀᴜs.She went through the same process for her next ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. It can sometimes result in ᴛᴡɪɴs ᴏʀ ᴛʀɪᴘʟᴇᴛs – ʙᴜᴛ ʀᴀʀᴇʟʏ sᴇxᴛᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs.
In an interview shortly before the babies ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʙᴏʀɴ, she described her five-week sᴄᴀɴ. She said: “I thought the ɴᴜʀsᴇ ᴡᴀs ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴀɪɴᴛ. Then she said, “Oh, no, there’s six,” and started apologizing.” Once the sʜᴏᴄᴋ wore off, Mrs Carroll said she just started ᴄʀʏɪɴɢ. She said: “All I could think about was, “how are we going to take care of six babies?” because we had a hard enough time with our first.” But her husband, a maintenance mechanic at a paper plant, said the family would manage.
A month before the babies ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʙᴏʀɴ, Mrs Carroll was admitted to Brockwood Medical Center for round-the-clock monitoring. For the last few days, she was ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄɪɴɢ ʀᴇɢᴜʟᴀʀ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs and had to take medication to stop the babies coming too soon. In the end, the babies arrived just in time for Father’s Day, and Mr Carroll spent the day rushing from incubator to incubator, sporting five pink ID bands and one blue, to show he could visit the babies.