Family love
I just read this in today's Fresno Bee, and I thought of Misha and her wife, and their desires for helping out kids and having some of their own one day.
Read the whole story. I thought it was amusing how they came up with their family last name.
:-)
Seven siblings get four more
Fresno couple add quadruplets to an already big household.
By Eddie Jimenez / The Fresno Bee
09/01/07 01:42:00
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/127065.html
Dana and Allison Thatch wanted to add one more to their family of seven children.
Instead, that number grew to 11 on Friday when Dana gave birth to four children -- two boys, Trey and Toby, and two girls, Tessa and Trista.
"She woke up and stood up and her water broke at 5:30 this morning," Allison Thatch said of her partner.
The quadruplets were born about two hours later by Caesarean section at Community Regional Medical Center.
The women say they are excited about expanding their already-large family.
"Our kids are great," Allison Thatch said. "There's so much love in our family. We wanted a huge family, lots of brothers and sisters."
The couple has 11 children, six boys and five girls. Six have special needs, and the Thatches adopted five of them while serving as foster parents. Two suffer from shaken baby syndrome, one is a quadriplegic, one is autistic, another has brittle bone disease and one has fetal alcohol syndrome.
"We have enough love and patience and guidance to give them a home," Allison Thatch said. "And they have just as much a right to a family as anybody else."
Dana Thatch, 27, and Allison Thatch, 33, are full-time moms whose family income comes from Fresno County adoption assistance funds. They say the adoptions save tax dollars, because the five would otherwise be in institutional care.
"They were children in the system that nobody wanted who would have gone to group homes or in a facility," Allison Thatch said.
Their oldest two children are 8 years old. One is Allison Thatch's biological son, Trevor. Dana Thatch gave birth to the couple's daughter 2-year-old Teigan.
The other children are T.J., 8; Tyson, 7; Teddy, 7; Tori, 6; and Tabitha, 5.
Dana Thatch delivered the newest family members on Friday, six weeks before her due date. They weighed between 3 pounds, 8 ounces and 4 pounds, 5 ounces. All are doing well, although two are in an incubator.
Community Regional Medical Center officials said the last set of quadruplets born at the hospital was in December 2005. The center has never had more than four babies born at once.
The quadruplets were no surprise. An ultrasound early in Dana Thatch's pregnancy showed the four babies.
The Fresno family lives in a 2,700-square-foot home with seven bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The couple said they are excited about the additions to their family. "We are ready," Allison Thatch said.
"As ready as we can be," added Dana Thatch, who was still a bit groggy from medication late Friday afternoon.
Proud Grandfather Gary Davis, Dana Thatch's father, helps provide the family support that the Thatches say enables them to create a loving family environment.
Davis said he's happy to let the moms deal with the dirty diapers: "I'll enjoy my role as the spoiling grandfather."
Dana and Allison Thatch said they chose their family's last name from the character Milo Thatch in the Disney move "Atlantis."
"We voted and decided that that would be our family name," Allison Thatch said. "There's nothing really traditional about this family, so why not?"
The reporter can be reached at ejimenez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6386.
Read the whole story. I thought it was amusing how they came up with their family last name.
:-)
Seven siblings get four more
Fresno couple add quadruplets to an already big household.
By Eddie Jimenez / The Fresno Bee
09/01/07 01:42:00
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/127065.html
Dana and Allison Thatch wanted to add one more to their family of seven children.
Instead, that number grew to 11 on Friday when Dana gave birth to four children -- two boys, Trey and Toby, and two girls, Tessa and Trista.
"She woke up and stood up and her water broke at 5:30 this morning," Allison Thatch said of her partner.
The quadruplets were born about two hours later by Caesarean section at Community Regional Medical Center.
The women say they are excited about expanding their already-large family.
"Our kids are great," Allison Thatch said. "There's so much love in our family. We wanted a huge family, lots of brothers and sisters."
The couple has 11 children, six boys and five girls. Six have special needs, and the Thatches adopted five of them while serving as foster parents. Two suffer from shaken baby syndrome, one is a quadriplegic, one is autistic, another has brittle bone disease and one has fetal alcohol syndrome.
"We have enough love and patience and guidance to give them a home," Allison Thatch said. "And they have just as much a right to a family as anybody else."
Dana Thatch, 27, and Allison Thatch, 33, are full-time moms whose family income comes from Fresno County adoption assistance funds. They say the adoptions save tax dollars, because the five would otherwise be in institutional care.
"They were children in the system that nobody wanted who would have gone to group homes or in a facility," Allison Thatch said.
Their oldest two children are 8 years old. One is Allison Thatch's biological son, Trevor. Dana Thatch gave birth to the couple's daughter 2-year-old Teigan.
The other children are T.J., 8; Tyson, 7; Teddy, 7; Tori, 6; and Tabitha, 5.
Dana Thatch delivered the newest family members on Friday, six weeks before her due date. They weighed between 3 pounds, 8 ounces and 4 pounds, 5 ounces. All are doing well, although two are in an incubator.
Community Regional Medical Center officials said the last set of quadruplets born at the hospital was in December 2005. The center has never had more than four babies born at once.
The quadruplets were no surprise. An ultrasound early in Dana Thatch's pregnancy showed the four babies.
The Fresno family lives in a 2,700-square-foot home with seven bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The couple said they are excited about the additions to their family. "We are ready," Allison Thatch said.
"As ready as we can be," added Dana Thatch, who was still a bit groggy from medication late Friday afternoon.
Proud Grandfather Gary Davis, Dana Thatch's father, helps provide the family support that the Thatches say enables them to create a loving family environment.
Davis said he's happy to let the moms deal with the dirty diapers: "I'll enjoy my role as the spoiling grandfather."
Dana and Allison Thatch said they chose their family's last name from the character Milo Thatch in the Disney move "Atlantis."
"We voted and decided that that would be our family name," Allison Thatch said. "There's nothing really traditional about this family, so why not?"
The reporter can be reached at ejimenez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6386.