Chukwu

The octuplets' first names, listed in the order the babies were born: Born December 8 Girl: Chukwuebuka Nkemjika ("God is Great"); nickname Ebuka (uh-BOO'-kuh) Born December 20 Girl: Chidinma Anulika ("God is Beautiful"); Chidi (CHEE'-dee) Girl: Chinecherem Nwabugwu ("God Thinks of Me"); Echerem (CHER'-um) Girl: Chimaijem Otito ("God Knows My Way"); Chima (CHEE'-muh) Girl: Chijindu Chidera ("God Has My Life"); Odera (oh-DARE'-uh) Died December 27 Boy: Chukwubuikem Maduabuchi ("God is My Strength"); Ikem (EE'-kem) Boy: Chijioke Chinedum ("God is My Leader"); Jioke (YOH'-kee) Girl: Chinagorom Chidiebere ("God is Merciful"); Gorom (GORM) Each name -- from the tradition of the Igbo (pronounced EE-bo) tribe, a major ethnic group in the parents' native Nigeria -- translates to a specific attribute or act of God.

HOUSTON (CNN) -- The youngest and smallest of the seven surviving Houston octuplets has reached full feeding levels for the first time since her birth six weeks ago.

The improvement, announced on Sunday, came just days after that baby girl, Gorom Louis, was diagnosed with an ailment that limits hormone production by the adrenal gland.

Because of the problem, Gorom, born 10 weeks prematurely, had been experiencing difficulty in reaching full feeding volumes, said Dr. Carol Lynn Berseth, the attending neonatologist at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

The infant was diagnosed last Thursday with "adrenal insufficiency of prematurity," a condition frequently found in babies born extremely premature. Since then, hormone replacement therapy has helped stabilize Gorom, enabling her to receive more feedings, Berseth said.

Gorom, along with three sisters (Ebuka, Chidi and Chima), and one brother (Ikem), remain in critical but stable condition at the hospital.

Ebuka was born 12 days before her siblings. Of the seven others, all born on December 20, Gorom was the last to be delivered.

Last week, the two largest babies -- Echerem, a girl, and Jioke, a boy -- were upgraded to serious condition and moved out of intensive care. An eighth baby, a girl named Odera, died one week after birth from heart and lung failure.

The babies' mother, Nkem Chukwu, had taken fertility drugs. She and her husband, Iyke Louis Udobi, are Nigerian-born U.S. residents.