Multiple Blessings

Multiple Blessings:
Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets

by Jon & Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson

Published in 2008. 208 pages.

Amazon Link

Genre: Nonfiction, Family/Parenting, Christian Life

My Overall Score: 3/5

What its about (taken from amazon.com): Infertility treatments, twins, more infertility treatments, followed by six beating hearts on an ultrasound screen. That sets up the Gosselins' memoir of the exhausting and joyous events surrounding the births of their now famous sextuplets. Those familiar with the TLC program Jon & Kate Plus 8 know how their household runs; now their story comes alive for readers as well. Details such as how they chose names; the sextuplets' birth day of May 10, 2004; and the babies' weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit are fascinating, as are stories of running a household that was perpetually full of volunteers, looked like "baby base camp" and required carefully sequenced nightly bath time. The Gosselins' life is a whirlwind, with their book reflecting the fast-paced, faith-filled approach they take to raising their twins and their miracle sextuplets.

What I thought: Well, I have mixed feelings about this book. First-the positives. It was very well written, no editorial mistakes, nice time line, very descriptive. Reading this story from Kate's perspective brought me back to my own memories of higher-order multiples (our first ultrasound showing all those beating hearts, a house full of volunteers, feeling isolated & overwhelmed, etc). The reader learns more details about this family and their situation than what is available on their hit TV show. Now, for the bad... Kate comes across as very ungrateful (irregardless of the fact that she goes 'overboard' to act grateful in this book). How many times does she have to say 'Because I am a nurse', 'I am a nurse...', over and over? Although I am sure she does have great faith in God, I thought she went a little overboard with all that this book. It just seemed to me that Kate had a mission in mind when writing this book and it was slightly irritating to me. In fact on page 167, she states 'I guess in a sense that is exactly why I decided to write this book.' and she goes on to explain her exact reason (ugh). If you enjoy their show, you will probably enjoy this book. If you already don't like Kate, you definitely wont like this book!

Why I read it & where I got it: I watch the show religiously and was intrigued when I heard about this book. This is my sister-in-law's book and she let me borrow it.

Date finished: January 31, 2009

Currently reading: Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult