An Australian mother has shared photos of her new quintuplet babies for the first time in a bid to explain what it’s like being “surprised by five.” Kim Tucci , the Australian mother who gave birth to quintuplets on the 28th day of January 2016, released a picture shoot of her babies.
Mrs Tucci’s story gained prominence through her Facebook page, Surprised by Five, where she recorded the details of her pregnancy. Family photographer, Erin Elizabeth who helped document Mrs Tucci’s pregnancy, organised the quintuplets’ photo shoot.
BBC reported that the 26-year-old mother gave birth to her babies in two minutes and they were conceived naturally. A team of 50 doctors and nurses assisted with the planned caesarean and all of the children were born healthy.
Kim and Vaughn Tucci wanted to try for one more child to “round off their little family” when they discovered they were set to have five more instead – a one-in-60 million chance.
Now, five months after they were born, Ms Tucci has described how it feels to be responsible for so many little people all at once.
“Fifty fingers, 50 toes, six hearts beating at once,” she says.
“My body fought the toughest of battles to get five babies here safely. Everything I did, I did for them.”
She also described trying to get the babies to the doctor for check-ups.
“The babies are off to another appointment,” she said.
“I’m still overwhelmed by all the capsules lined up holding the precious cargo I call my babies.”
The couple, who live in Australia, have even turned to online fundraising to try to buy a car and other items needed to look after the quintuplets. Tucci’s grandmother posted an explanation of her 26-year-old grandaughter’s situation on Gofundme.org.
“Kim is a wonderful mother and Vaughn a fantastic father, the pressures placed on this young couple go far beyond what many of us could ever imagine,” she says.
“Each day they strive to make their family as happy as they possibly can without passing on their worries and concerns to each other.” The pair had a rented home they currently could not afford to buy and which was not big enough to accomodate everyone, she added. Nor did they have a car with the required nine seats for themselves, their two other children and babies Ali, Penelope, Tiffany, Beatrix and Keith.
Since the appeal went online 24 days ago with the photos, the couple have raised more than $32,000.