Oksana Kobeletskaya, who was 37 years old and lived in Odessa, gave birth to five babies on June 24, 2016. It was a big deal that the pregnancy happened without any help from doctors. “An ultrasound was planned as usual. When I saw the doctor’s face during the exam, I was very scared. The doctor began to count one by one. I couldn’t believe all this was happening to me.” So, Oksana decided that she had to give birth because she had no other choice.
Doctors told the girl that she could handle it if the weight wasn’t too big, or about 900 grams. No one gave a guarantee that everything would be fine. They only thought about how much and what kind of equipment would be needed, since there aren’t many places for so many babies to be born at the same time in the intensive care unit of a city maternity hospital.
“When my 31st week was over, I had to have a caesarean section right away. Thanks to the doctors, the babies came out very quickly. Two girls and three boys. David is 1450 grams, Sasha is 1250 grams, Vlad is 1750 grams, Denis is 1810 grams, and Daria is 1190 grams.
Now, everything comes back to me like a bad dream. I really hoped that everything would go well at the birth. Everything was set up very well, and equipment from different hospitals was brought in. After the babies were born, they were taken away so quickly that I couldn’t see anything.
Since something like this has never happened in the city before, the city gave the new mom a 5-room apartment and money.
“The babies were fed eight times a day, every three hours. If you are even a little bit late, there will be temper tantrums, and you will not have time to do anything. From one meal to the next, time went by very quickly. Then, both my husband and my mother gave me a lot of help. From the hospital on, my five children had a set schedule that we didn’t change. I decided to make a change only when all five of them are stronger and ready.
By 6 months, the kids had a clear plan for each day. There were six meals a day, required walks during the day, and a good night’s sleep. “Six months after the babies were born, my husband packed up his things and left us. He never came back. Nothing would have changed if we only had one child instead of five. Back in 2015, I was going to end my marriage.