Thanks to everyone who hazarded a guess at this woman's number of children. I'm sorry to say, though, that none of you guessed nearly high enough. Dianna was the closest, but even she was off by 32. That's right, (if you can do the math in your head that quickly), this Russian peasant woman, wife of Feodor Vassilyev, gave birth to sixty-seven surviving children! This mother labored over sixteen sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets between 1725 and 1765. I assume there were some single births as well, but my statistic didn't confirm that. Isn't that simply amazing! Can you imagine trying to trace their family tree down into further generations? WOWZA!
I thinkthis woman's record still stands . . . though I haven't taken time to look it up. But wow, 67 children! I think Angela was right--she must have been the woman who inspired the Mother Goose Rhyme! I also agree with Erica; though this is only my third, the thought of that many children makes my body feel tired all over!
So there's the trivia for the day! Thanks for participating!
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4 comments:
Man! I wonder if I would even be able to remember all the names of my children! I guess you could just start numbering them!
She must have been one strong woman!
Erica
Rachel,
My doctor told me about her one of the last times I was there, I just could't imagine! I think of Mrs. Dugger and am truly amazed-- what a testimony their family is! I know for me personally, number 3 was probably the hardest. I think with 2 children, there's the two of you, so it's not so overwhelming, but with 3, who's going to take the third one :)? Let the juggling begin! But about the time you think you're going to go crazy, you realize, hey, they (the kids) can start doing a few things to help out. The kids get older and more helpful if we're training them in the Lord. But there's not doubt about it, being a mommy most times is just plan old fashioned hard work that can be exhausting. Isa. 41(?) says that He remembers those that have young. He knows how difficult it can be, his grace is sufficient, hour by hour, day by day. Hang in there, you've got a few more months of training before this new little one arrives. Isn't it great that the Lord gives us nine months to prepare (most of the time)?
Rebecca VE
YOWSERS!! As a mother of twins, I have often had dreams (or nightmares) of bearing twins again. There was nothing comfortable about carrying two boys, 6 and almost 7 lbs each. I cannot even imagine having 16 sets of twins plus all those others triplets and quadruplets! Craziness!!
Ok, Hubs and I have been talking about this. 67! Given the time period, we have to assume that they were all natural births. Were c-sections even available then? She labored 4 quadruplets naturally! What medical expertise we've lost!
Hubs would like to know how many survived? (the book probably doesn't say)
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