Product Description

In Multiple Blessings, Kate Gosselin shares the gripping details of her rollercoaster ride of emotional highs and lows when she discovered she and her husband, Jon, would be expecting sextuplets while still basking in the light of their twin girls' toddlerhood. Strongly encouraged to consider selective reduction for the sake of both mother and babies, she and Jon instead decided to accept the extreme challenge God had handed them. After suffering the long and winding road of infertility, the young couple felt stressed but blessed as they fought valiantly to help their babies survive the fight for their lives. Kate reveals excerpts from her private journal as she describes the daily struggle to carry the babies for thirty weeks. In addition to their uphill medical battle, the family suffered many emotional setbacks such as the loss of Jon's job, forcing the pair to look to God as their sole provider and sustainer of life.

After the miraculous birth, the couple coped with months of neonatal intensive care for their newborns as well as Kate's physical recovery from such complete and prolonged bed rest. Later as the entire family of ten finally arrived home reeling with exhaustion, they still managed to feed, bathe, clothe, and monitor the health of their fragile infants as a steady parade of necessary and helpful volunteers turned their home and family life into a public arena.

The young family lived moment to moment at first, not knowing what each new day would bring and how they would survive on such depleted sleep, money, and emotional reserves. However, as the months progressed, they grew into the next stage of development, proudly letting go of yesterday and looking forward to a brighter and ever-changing tomorrow. Their small home was soon filled to capacity with six cribs, six bouncy seats, several changing tables, never-ending piles of laundry, tubs of colorful toys, stacks of diapers, cartons of formula, rows and rows of bottles, bibs and pacifiers, two triplet strollers, six car seats, and so on. Yes, life was hectic and cramped, but with each major milestone Jon and Kate rejoiced at the miracles that unfolded around them. The crew of six growing babies along with their proud big sisters, Madelyn and Cara, did their part to fill those rooms with squawking, squealing, laughing, and of course, a healthy dose of crying. Kate and Jon eventually came out of the fog of the first precarious two years feeling eternally grateful for the love and support of family, friends, community, and indeed a nation. More important, they felt the ever present hand of a faithful God upholding them and giving them just enough strength and courage to take one day at a time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12708 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-01
• Released on: 2008-10-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780310289029
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
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. Kate admits, "I was a bit of a control freak," yet also quickly draws on and receives the "peace of God... like a security blanket" through her months in the hospital, Jon's job loss and the impending arrivals. 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. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher
Kate Gosselin tells the amazing story of how she and her husband, Jon, have survived the overwhelming odds of birthing not only twins but also sextuplets in three years, and how they continue to strive every day to honor Christ while he teaches them to thrive in spite of emotional, financial, social, and physical exhaustion.

From the Back Cover
Eight children in three years? Impossible! Kate and Jon Gosselin have learned that, through God, all things are possible—though sometimes slightly improbable. Just three years after giving birth to twin daughters, Kate and Jon learned they were pregnant again—with sextuplets. In Multiple Blessings, Kate candidly chronicles the emotional and exhausting challenges she and Jon faced from the time the babies were conceived through the first two years of their lives. This amazing story of faith provides a heartening lesson in what it means to trust the faithful hand of God to provide the strength and courage to make it through life’s seemingly impossible situations.

Customer Reviews

Very well written. Good writting style, flow and timeline of events.
When the book came out I noticed that the author is Beth Carson (along with Kate Gosselin). On the TV show "Jon and Kate Plus 8", it has been shown that Beth Carson is a friend of Kate's, so I assumed the book would lack an experienced writing style. I was wrong! This book is VERY well written with an excellent flow and time-line of events.

The story is told by Kate with details that go past what the TV show documents. One way to explain it is that the TV series shows the action while the book provides insight into the emotional roller coaster and thoughts experienced by the parents, immediate family and some volunteers. Kate does a good job of explaining the mental and physical stress of raising six infants, along with a set of twin toddlers. Kate didn't paint herself as a saint and openly talks about the times she was wrong and as she stated "not winning any friends". As a mom myself of multiples I thought the book gave an accurate portrayal of the stress of bed rest, carrying multiples, and the mental exhaustion that takes it's ugly toll on relationships.

The book discusses the inital fertily treatment (an IUI), Kate's hospital stay while on bedrest, their early days in a condo by the hospital and their first house (not the house seen on TV). Each chapter of the book has a personal photo from the Gosselin family which are fairly generic and similar to what has been seen on the TV series. But unlike the TV series the book goes into detail about the parents of Jon and Kate and other immediate family members. Those family members are mentioned lovingly quiet often which Fans of the show may find interesting.

The book does have many religious references, but are not stated in a preachy way. They seem to be made only to point out the reasoning behind decisions Jon and Kate made, and to follow the title/theme of the book Multiple "Blessings".

I have noticed many negative reviews and it seems they are based on a personal disagreement with the Gosselin's lifestyle. Of course everyone is entitled to disagree with the Gosselin's -- I don't always agree with what I see on TV myself. BUT unfortunately it seems the majority of negative reviews have nothing to do with the contents of the book and more to do with the flood of recent tabloid press the family has received. The book doesn't seem to be written to make themselves look good - but written more in a diary style. Whether you are a fan or a critic, I think you will agree that the book is well written. Multiple Blessings is a fairly quick read that is well worth it for anyone who is curious about this family or for someone who has struggled with raising multiples. Enjoy!

Some good qualities but disappointing overall
I'm a huge fan of the show and bought the book as soon as I learned of it. I was expecting the book to be a more candid account of their lives. Unfortunately, it was rather impersonal and left many unanswered questions. In the book Kate says she can be stand-offish and that's clear from reading her story. I was hoping for some insight into what the day is like when the cameras are not around. Has Kate ever had a full time nanny to help her once all the volunteers left? They are obviously Christians so why do they talk so little about their faith on the show? I also thought someone would talk about whether Jon still works since their financial situation has undoubtedly changed because of the show. There was also nothing in the book to explain why Jon and Kate's parents have no involvement with their family. An overall disappointment.

Well written, but...
This book is well-written and definitely fills in the gap of time between the birth of the twins and sextuplets and the beginning of the Gosselins' reality show.

That said, I am going to disagree with some of the other reviews and say that this book would be more enjoyable for people who are NOT regular viewers of "Jon & Kate + 8." As one who has seen nearly the whole series, the book left me confused. Besides a bible verse awkwardly taped on the wall of the family's kitchen and the odd reference to Jesus here and there, I had never gotten the impression that Christianity played much of a role in the Gosselin's lives. This book is VERY faith-based, which I have no problem with, but it comes out of left field and seems to overreach at some points to validate Kate's decision-making.

The book's subtitle, "From Surviving to Thriving," also seems a touch inaccurate. I was anticipating at least a chapter chronicling the family's decision to do their reality show, and how this decision brought them the financial security to "thrive." Instead, the family just seems to be "surviving" throughout the entire book; not even the wealth of biblical references could turn this into an uplifting story for me. Kate's tone is controlling and negative, border lining on annoying. I appreciate that she takes numerous opportunities to thank everyone who lended them support during their difficult years, but is it asking too much to then connect the dots and assert that this led them to "thrive"? In her recollection of events, it seems that Kate rarely validated the hundreds of people who donated their time to help care for the sextuplets in the first year of their lives; on the contrary, it seems she was annoyed and resentful. For instance, there is a part in the book where Kate describes how she felt when several VOLUNTEERS would chat about non-baby things amongst themselves in between feeding the sextuplets. She writes, "I would often sit with a glazed look in my eyes trying to remember when I actually thought any of those topics were worthy of that much discussion." That's an honest statement that I commend her for admitting to, but I was disappointed when it wasn't followed by any reflection or evidence of growth - and isn't that what the book is supposed to be about? There were too many of these instances in the book for me to believe that Kate has grown spiritually as part of her journey, so all the faith references lose a lot of credibility.

I hate to write such a critical review of this book while I generally enjoy the show, but I'm confused now - what kind of family story is this? Recent episodes have chronicled Kate's tummy tuck, Jon's hair plugs, family trips to NY to do TV interviews, lavish paid-for vacations full of strategic product placement - Is God the driving force behind this too, now that 1) the kids are reaching an age where such attention could cause damaging effects down the road and 2) the Gosselin family are millionaires thanks to their series, books and speaking and endorsement fees? Is this a happy ending of a survival story thanks to the grace of God, or is it the beginning of an excessive reality empire, thanks to the grace of God?

This book left me confused, unsatisfied, and ironically liking Jon and especially Kate a little less. I'm glad it was purchased for me as a gift.