Octuplet Returned To Ventilator

Mon., Jan. 18, 1999

One of the seven surviving Houston octuplets was placed back on a ventilator Sunday while she fights an infection.

Gorom Louis, the last of the octuplets born last month to Nkem Chukwu and husband Iyke Louis, began antibiotic treatments Saturday after an infection surfaced, said Dr. Carol Lynn Berseth, the attending neonatologist.

Another of the octuplets, baby boy Ikem, remained on antibiotics Sunday after developing a blood infection Friday. Breast milk feedings were stopped for both children, who weighed almost 1-1/2 pounds Friday, up about five ounces from their birth weights.

All seven of the babies - two boys and five girls - remain in critical but stable condition at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Chukwu, a native of Nigeria, delivered her first baby, Ebuka, on Dec. 8. On Dec. 20, she delivered seven more children. Odera, a girl who weighed 10.3 ounces at birth, died a week after birth.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.

Octuplet Returned To Ventilator

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

Trump adds Iraq to special envoy Tom Barrack’s role in Syria

ICE agents to leave site of volatile protests at New Jersey detention center

Americans hurt in Kuwait as Trump sends mixed signals on war