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Chukwu octuplets greet new year in critical but stable condition
January 1, 1999
Web posted at: 6:37 p.m. EST (2337 GMT)
HOUSTON (CNN) -- The seven Chukwu octuplets who survived into the new year were reported in critical but stable condition Friday at Texas Children's Hospital.
Three of the babies -- Ebuka, Gorom and Ikem -- are still breathing with the help of mechanical ventilators. But the other four -- Echerem, Chidi, Chima and Jioke -- are now breathing on their own. All are being fed intravenously.
The eighth octuplet, a girl named Odera, died last Sunday after suffering heart and lung failure. At birth, she had weighed just 10.3 ounces.
The octuplets' parents are Nkem Chukwu and her husband, Iyke Louis Udobi, both Nigerian-Americans who live in Houston. The babies were conceived with the help of fertility drugs.
In what doctors called a medical first, Ebuka was born on December 8, while the seven remaining children were delivered by Caesarean section on December 20.
Chukwu was released from the hospital Wednesday.