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Three more septuplets upgraded to fair condition
November 26, 1997
Natalie Sue McCaughey sleeps
Web posted at: 8:32 p.m. EST (0132 GMT)DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- Three more of the world's only living septuplets were upgraded to fair condition Wednesday.
Kelsey Ann, Brandon James and Joel Steven McCaughey were upgraded from serious condition at Blank Children's Hospital after they were removed from ventilators and started breathing on their own.
The upgrade was especially noteworthy for Joel, who was the only one of the seven babies listed in critical condition for a time shortly after they were delivered.
A L S O :
Septuplet gallery
The three babies joined Kenneth Robert, the first-born and largest of the septuplets, and Natalie Sue, the second smallest in birth weight, who were also in fair condition and breathing without assistance.
The two other babies, Alexis May and Nathaniel Roy, were still in serious condition and on ventilators.
In addition, three more of the seven -- Natalie, Kelsey and Joel -- have been taken off intravenous nourishment and are being fed by mouth. Kenneth already had been taking nourishment by mouth instead of intravenously.
The children's hospital announced the babies' progress exactly one week after their birth. The septuplets were born November 19 to Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey of Carlisle, Iowa.
The family made its television debut on Tuesday night. "Dateline NBC" broadcast the first tape of the seven babies, showing them connected to tubes and monitors.
"It was terrible ... I felt like death warmed over," Mrs. McCaughey told "Dateline" of the 29th week of her pregnancy.
The babies were born just after 30 weeks of pregnancy. Their mother had been confined to her bed since the ninth week.
On her first visit to the intensive care unit just after the babies were delivered by Caesarean section, Mrs. McCaughey went around to each baby, touched each of them "and told them I loved them," she said during the interview.
The broadcast included a portion of a home video that showed the babies' father -- wearing protective clothing for the operating room -- telling family members the babies had been born.
"Four boys, three girls, all healthy," he said. Those in the room started singing a Christian hymn immediately after the announcement.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Related stories:
- Second septuplet upgraded as mother gives interview - November 25, 1997
- Septuplet Joel back on ventilator - November 24, 1997
- Septuplets' mom goes home - November 23, 1997
- Condition of septuplets stays steady - November 22, 1997
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