<p>I should be cooking dinner, but instead I am watching this mess. Why am I so attracted to this train wreck? I remember sitting in front of the tv watching the OJ Simpson chase; why did I do that?</p>
<p>In one of the interviews she stated her goal is to write a book. Why am I not surprised?</p>
<p>And the way she talked about her mother, who has devoted her life to raising Nadia’s other children! Jaw-droppingly clueless.</p>
<p>My overall impression is she has the maternal instincts of an alley cat. But that would be insulting to cats.</p>
<p>Definitely an insult to cats! Cats generally have wonderful maternal instincts. Not all of them of course. We had a Mama stray that ate one of the kittens (never knew if it died because she ate it or she ate it because it died, my son just found a half a kitten) and almost killed the other. He is now a large clumsy and quite entertaining 17lb inhabitant of my house. My husbands shadow - doesn’t like me much - I think maybe he thinks I am the mother figure and is afraid I will eat him. </p>
<p>I started trying to watch Dr Phil, but I just can’t stand watching this 3 ring circus, so I will continue to rely on this thread for updates.</p>
<p>Oh yes, I almost forgot about the video where she is laying on the bed talking about the sperm donor…giggling and talking so softly (as if to a friend rather than a camera)…then “accidentally” slipped that the donor lives in California, all the while giggling…what a piece of work!</p>
<p>So, it seems as if there’s a part 2 to this unfolding story tomorrow on Dr. Phil.</p>
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<p>I watch so you don’t have to! And since none of the GFs I lunched with today would talk about the octuplets (or even listen!), here goes:</p>
<p>My thoughts on the show:
Linda (head AIW) is unprofessional, racist, and overall unsympathetic. I personally would not want her in my home talking as she did around any children old enough to understand what she was saying. Sneering comments on “hispanic ladies.”
Gloria Aldred –imho as much a publicity seeker as Nadya, and although she sometimes seems to me to have been useful to women in difficult situations probably is “out to get” Nadya. Why on earth do you want someone in your home who doesn’t have your best interests at heart?
Nadya - ??? If I overheard someone say they wanted to smuggle one of my babies out of the house in my purse, even in jest, I would freak! (Linda reportedly said this)</p>
<p>Linda called child protective services three times: (1) the night of the first two octuplets arrival home when she described the scene inside the house as being as chaotic as outside; (2) regarding perceived lack of security; (3) regarding potential nannies who tested positive for TB. ??? It wasn’t clear to me if these women were actually in the home. If they were, I can’t imagine why. Aren’t all child care workers tested PRIOR to being allowed near children? All the reports seem reasonable and necessary to me.</p>
<p>Linda states that Nadya only did 8 infant feedings in the week she was at the home. And that she doesn’t care about her children. This is not, in and of itself, a problem to me. Lots of very caring moms (and most dads!) delegate childcare. Providing a consistent primary caregiver with whom the infant can bond does seem imperative to me. Whether the caregivers can communicate with the individual in charge of the children seems imperative to me. The fact Linda knows no Spanish perhaps should have nothing to do with who is hired. The TB issue was very troubling. Maybe we will hear more about that tomorrow.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the medical staff at the hospital is helping train caregivers and doing home health visits every other day and are mandated to report any neglect/abuse. Interestingly they chose not to appear on TV.</p>
<p>I wish this really was a soap opera and not real life</p>
<p>My daughter is home for spring break and ask why I was watching this crap. I think my daughter is smarter than her mother!!</p>
<p>Remember, Idol tonight; we can shift the chatter to that thread for a few hours. I hope my daughter doesn’t chastise me for being online during Idol.</p>
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I guess it goes without saying that all our children are smarter than their parents LOL</p>
<p>I continue to watch because, imho, the story raises so many fascinating issues including:</p>
<p>1) Ethical obligations of fertility specialists</p>
<p>2) Whether there is a basic human right to procreate and raise children - and if there is, whether society is obligated to support that right in any way</p>
<p>3) The whole, increasingly out of control, 15 minutes of fame idea and how the media controls our perceptions of an event</p>
<p>My D is a Culture in Media major, this stuff is fuel for her final projects.</p>
<p>No offense intended, but I’m truly fascinated, what exactly is a Culture in Media major and what does it entail?</p>
<p>CIA, no offense taken…my D’s ‘concentration’ is film production…</p>
<p>The major examines a variety of symbolic practices through interdisciplinary lenses, and particularly through a grounding in the technologies, forms, institutions, and effects of media. A vibrant, lively, and morphing area of inquiry in the international academic world, the converging fields of media and cultural studies are engaged in making sense of our rapidly changing global media environment. Because media (forms of information and communication ranging from the written word to print, film, television, radio, and the Internet) is playing an increasingly visible role in politics and economics, business and education, and art and entertainment in local, national, and international contexts, a proper understanding of processes of mediation is key to understanding how cultures are shaped. Incorporating insights from various fields, both traditional and emergent, Culture and Media is a fertile meeting ground for theories of publics and audiences, power and subjectivity, and representations and actions.</p>
<p>Course subjects, perspectives, and topics are grouped around concentrations that focus on new media cultures; transnational media dynamics; popular and media histories; and issues of racial, gendered, and sexual identity formations. Students learn to understand old and new media through historical, political, technological, sociological, textual, and ethnographic approaches. They also learn how to interpret the formal properties of diverse cultural texts—including newspapers, magazines, films, photographs, and online communication.</p>
<p>Students acquire a variety of scholarly and practical abilities. They gain a broad understanding of cultural histories, debates, and practices; they gain a comparative media and cultural perspective; they see media as a tool of social engagement; and they learn to put their ideas into practice through production skills in digital media. By using critical thinking and writing and production skills, students are prepared for internships and jobs in publishing, media production, and research organizations. The concentrations within the major can also be a preparation for those interested in pursuing graduate work in these areas.</p>
<p>A positive TB test could mean that you’ve had or been exposed to TB in the past. If you get a positive, you need to get a chest xray to see if you have active TB. </p>
<p>Our 85 year old neighbor was in a TB sanitarium when she was a teenager. Has positive TB tests, but no active TB. I don’t have any trouble with my kids being around her, even when they were little.</p>
<p>My dad had TB as an infant (I think he may have been born with it - is that possible, I think his Mum had it). It was gone not contagious or anything by the time I was on the scene.</p>
<p>"According to a report in the National Enquirer, Suleman recently confessed to a brief stint as a stripper.</p>
<p>“I was 18 and at a very investigative stage of my life,” Suleman allegedly told a close friend. “I had not even kissed a boy. But I entered a dance/lingerie contest in a club near my home. I danced and paraded in lingerie. Then, when I was 19, I went to a gentleman’s club and performed as a topless dancer.”…</p>
<p>[Tidbits:</a> Octuplet mom once worked as a stripper - Tabloid Tidbits- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29883773/]Tidbits:”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29883773/)</p>
<p>“Linda West-Conforti, the founder of Angels in Waiting, said today on the “Dr. Phil Show” that Suleman did not care about her children, only voluntarily fed them when a film crew was there, and spent too much time away from home.”</p>
<p><a href=“Nurse: Octuplet Mom Nadya Suleman Doesn't Care About Kids - ABC News”>http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=7171289&page=1</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the TB explanation and information. So possibly this really isn’t a negative against Nadya?</p>
<p>I will be watching dr phil this morning if anyone wants an update.</p>
<p>Some people, including my husband, have a positive TB skin test without ever having had TB. My husband is tested every year, because he works in a hospital. He had to have a chest x-ray at one point to demonstrate that he did not have TB. I think his positive skin test stemmed from some sort of immunization that was used in Europe when he was growing up there. </p>
<p>If one of Nadya’s nannies had a positive skin test, then she should have had a chest x-ray to confirm that she does not have the disease. If Nadya hired someone with a positive skin test and no negative chest x-ray, then that would seem to be extremely irresponsible.</p>
<p>Yes, a positive TB test can be present in someone who received a vaccine given for TB in other countries (not given in the US as it creates a lifelong positive test and no easy way to know who really has active disease or not). A positive test can be in someone EXPOSED who carries the bacteria in a dormant stage. A positive test can be in someone who has had TB and has been treated who has no active disease. And a positive test can mean ACTIVE INFECTION. To hire someone with a positive TB test with no additional testing to determine their status is not responsible when a child care worker is involved. A simple CXR must be done before letting nannies be in the house. Period. No hospital will employ a worker with a positive TB test without a confirmatory CXR. Problem is, nannies are not licensed, and can be hired by anyone to do anything in the home. </p>
<p>A caregiver with a positive TB test MUST have a confirmatory CXR as the next step. If that worker was born and raised in the US, red flags are up as this is not a person who has the vaccine and they could be contagious.</p>
<p>My son tested positive for TB at age 3 and had a 9-month-long treatment with a particular drug. He’s been told he will always test positive. Before he entered college, he was required to have a chest x-ray to confirm he didn’t have the active disease. I suspect he will need to do this from time to time.</p>
<p>My Mom too has had a positive, but as much as I love my Mom, I don’t think it is a good idea to come into a home until the xray has occurred. Nor did she, she stayed away from my 3 and 1 yr old until the xray showed it was a false positive. (We lived in the UK for several yrs and the docs thought because of her frequent air travel she might have contracted TB)</p>
<p>To me it just shows that Nadya either does not have the intelligence to recognize the danger it might risk not only to the preemies, but the whole family or she just couldn’t care and wanted a body, anybody to take care of the kids.</p>
<p>What I find interesting is she and her attorney do not deny she was out shopping. He even stated any mother who went grocery shopping would be bad than. However, he didn’t deny and say she wasn’t at the GAP (which is what AIW claims), he just took the approach of grocery shopping Mom. To me that said she was at the mall, b/c he would come flat out and say no she wasn’t.</p>
<p>This women has a track record of not putting the children first.<br>
- Continually impregnating herself even knowing that she has an autistic child, never thinking about how this would affect him</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Impregnating herself while taking tax dollars, instead of completing her education and being able to financially care for the children she already had brought into the world.</p></li>
<li><p>I have preemies and they mean everything, but I get fake nails done for my interview with Anne Curry and then touch them…any woman with fake nails know that is a breeding ground for germs. Let’s be real, any Mom who really cared about the babies would have said, hey Mom/Dad can you sit down with any media outlet and tell them right now my priority is these children and I need to be there. MY sister gave birth at 29 wks 5 days, she was in NICU from 7 a.m to midnight, she had to drive 1 hr ea way, thus by the time she got home, expressed milk she would get about 4 hrs of sleep and start her day over again. I lived in AK at that time and came home to NJ for a visit after 3 yrs of not seeing her, I only saw her for a few minutes when I would show up at the hospital and peer through the window, she would come out in her yellow disposblescrubs, give me the update and walk back in. We are incredibly close and I couldn’t even convince her to have lunch in the cafeteria. That I respect, sitting down for hrs with ANne Curry instead of being with 8 preemies already turned me off.</p></li>
<li><p>OOPS I didn’t know I was suppose to be there to meet with CPS…any parent that understands the severity of the situation, without the media, would want their(CPS) input. Add into the fact that CPS had already been called. Crap I would have been there the day before checking and re-checking the house for deficiencies that they might find. I also would have been in the driveway waiting for them. The thing hat I keep questioning is…how did she expect them to get in…OH NEVER MIND…the companies that Dr. Phil hooked up would let them in!</p></li>
<li><p>OOPS I didn’t realize that the paparazzi would be all over the house when I brought them home…afterall I thought the media was too stupid to figure out where my new home was even though it was even on Dr. Phil</p></li>
<li><p>She has gone through 2 publicists…one even has now openly stated I hope these children are taken away. These are people very familiar with her, that should say it all!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>alh–I’m interested in a dr. phil update, if you would be so kind.</p>