This was the first one hour special that the Gosselins made. It documents the life of the parents of multiples - actually, MULTIPLE multiples! They have 5 year old fraternal twin daughters, Cara & Mady. And they have 16 months old sextuplets consisting of 3 boys and 3 girls: Aaden, Collin, Joel, Alexis, Hannah and Leah. Everyone wants to know how they manage it all. This show is about to find out! It introduces us to the parents, Jon and Kate. Kate was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and had to use fertility treatments to have the twins girls. Jon was happy with just 2 kids - he said "the world is designed for 4 people." But Kate just wanted one more - she won. So after more fertility treatments, they are in for a shock. During the 1st ultrasound, they panic after it reveals 7 heartbeats. They say it was the worst day of their lives, just horrible. On Christmas Eve, Kate starts bleeding and fears she is losing the babies. At the hospital, the ultrasound shows 6 strong heartbeats. One of the fetus' never fully developed. After this close call, they start accepting the pregnancy. Kate likes to say they "bought one, and got 5 for free". They are against selective reduction.
The babies are born 5/10/04 at almost 30 weeks. They all weigh less than 3 pounds. The first babies start to come home June 26, and the last ones come home by July 7. She says the pregnancy wrecked her bladder and she had to go home with a catheter and also had to pack her wound. The babies had the usual preemie issues like reflux but none had to have oxygen. They have all developed into healthy, normal babies. They describe how all the kids have very distinct and different personalities. Kate and Jon also have differing traits. Kate is very organized - perhaps too much according to Jon and thinks her way is the only right way. Jon is more complacent and laid back. So they frequently butt heads. They do have to have a strict daily routine in order to accomplish everything they have to do. Jon works 6am to 7 pm so Kate is alone all day with the kids by herself. Her only break from the kids is from 12:30-4pm when they nap. But this is when she has to get all her chores, like cleaning and laundry, done.
Kate also works part-time as a nurse at an outpatient kidney clinic. She is scheduled to work a double shift every other Saturday from 6am-10pm. But she has had to pick up the Saturdays in between for financial reasons. Their house is very cramped which only intensifies the noise level with all the babies and kids. She admits that they aren't always used to the noise themselves. Kate says they probably use 30 diapers/day, a whole box of wipes and 2 1/2 cans of formula powder mix. They have to go to a warehouse store to buy in bulk. They go on one trip and the register rings up $1150! Yikes - just wait until they have teenagers!
Jon talks about how Kate used to have long, curly beautiful blonde hair. She says he should've checked the roots. She asks if he still would've married her? He says yes. She says "Right answer but what's the true answer?" He squirms and smirks "I only like blondes..." Then they start talking about how Kate's body changed after the sextuplets - from being "firm, fit and ready to go after the twins" to... Kate then shows what they call her "dog jowls" stomach with all the excess skin. She wears a girdle up to her bra line that "holds it all in" (she eventually gets plastic surgery to correct this).
They are invited to appear on a Martha Stewart show about babies. It is a big ordeal getting ready for the trip. They are one of only 12 living sets of sextuplets in the U.S. so media attention is part of the territory. Kate chalks it up to life experience for the kids and a free trip to NY! The show goes very smoothly with all the kids behaving extremely well.
At home, they feel they are entering a new phase as the sextuplets are entering toddlerhood and are starting to walk. They will no longer be happy in confined spaces so they feel they need a bigger home. They sell their 2300 SF home for an almost 4000 SF home. Kate points out that Jon is prone to exaggerations when describing the homes! Moving this family of 10 is huge task but they get it done.
They go on a family outing to cut a tree down for Christmas at a tree farm. But the kids are not very happy with the cold weather and big snowsuits. It is not an enjoyable event. Then when Kate tries to get a picture of all the kids, they start crying and screaming so she gives up. They talk about how exhausting it is to try to get all 8 kids to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. People always say they haven't given them a recent photo of the kids but it's because they don't have one themselves!
At the end, they talk about what a close knit family they are and are very loving. Kate makes an strange statement that "when everyone else walks away, when everyone else disappears, we've got each other." It makes you wonder if they haven't been hurt or experienced some type of estrangement. That statement just struck me as odd. They close by being asked if they plan to have anymore kids - and they say "NO WAY - we are DONE!" I should say so - they have quite a FULL house.
The babies are born 5/10/04 at almost 30 weeks. They all weigh less than 3 pounds. The first babies start to come home June 26, and the last ones come home by July 7. She says the pregnancy wrecked her bladder and she had to go home with a catheter and also had to pack her wound. The babies had the usual preemie issues like reflux but none had to have oxygen. They have all developed into healthy, normal babies. They describe how all the kids have very distinct and different personalities. Kate and Jon also have differing traits. Kate is very organized - perhaps too much according to Jon and thinks her way is the only right way. Jon is more complacent and laid back. So they frequently butt heads. They do have to have a strict daily routine in order to accomplish everything they have to do. Jon works 6am to 7 pm so Kate is alone all day with the kids by herself. Her only break from the kids is from 12:30-4pm when they nap. But this is when she has to get all her chores, like cleaning and laundry, done.
Kate also works part-time as a nurse at an outpatient kidney clinic. She is scheduled to work a double shift every other Saturday from 6am-10pm. But she has had to pick up the Saturdays in between for financial reasons. Their house is very cramped which only intensifies the noise level with all the babies and kids. She admits that they aren't always used to the noise themselves. Kate says they probably use 30 diapers/day, a whole box of wipes and 2 1/2 cans of formula powder mix. They have to go to a warehouse store to buy in bulk. They go on one trip and the register rings up $1150! Yikes - just wait until they have teenagers!
Jon talks about how Kate used to have long, curly beautiful blonde hair. She says he should've checked the roots. She asks if he still would've married her? He says yes. She says "Right answer but what's the true answer?" He squirms and smirks "I only like blondes..." Then they start talking about how Kate's body changed after the sextuplets - from being "firm, fit and ready to go after the twins" to... Kate then shows what they call her "dog jowls" stomach with all the excess skin. She wears a girdle up to her bra line that "holds it all in" (she eventually gets plastic surgery to correct this).
They are invited to appear on a Martha Stewart show about babies. It is a big ordeal getting ready for the trip. They are one of only 12 living sets of sextuplets in the U.S. so media attention is part of the territory. Kate chalks it up to life experience for the kids and a free trip to NY! The show goes very smoothly with all the kids behaving extremely well.
At home, they feel they are entering a new phase as the sextuplets are entering toddlerhood and are starting to walk. They will no longer be happy in confined spaces so they feel they need a bigger home. They sell their 2300 SF home for an almost 4000 SF home. Kate points out that Jon is prone to exaggerations when describing the homes! Moving this family of 10 is huge task but they get it done.
They go on a family outing to cut a tree down for Christmas at a tree farm. But the kids are not very happy with the cold weather and big snowsuits. It is not an enjoyable event. Then when Kate tries to get a picture of all the kids, they start crying and screaming so she gives up. They talk about how exhausting it is to try to get all 8 kids to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. People always say they haven't given them a recent photo of the kids but it's because they don't have one themselves!
At the end, they talk about what a close knit family they are and are very loving. Kate makes an strange statement that "when everyone else walks away, when everyone else disappears, we've got each other." It makes you wonder if they haven't been hurt or experienced some type of estrangement. That statement just struck me as odd. They close by being asked if they plan to have anymore kids - and they say "NO WAY - we are DONE!" I should say so - they have quite a FULL house.
