Tille Family

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Alex is home…Now it gets hairy.

I’m so sorry but this post will not be quite as entertaining as the previous one. I hope that isn’t too much of a disappointment for you all. In this post, I will not be talking about my “package;” just an old fashioned update on the kids.

Some of you may already know this, but for those who do not, we brought home Alex this past weekend. Alex came home weighing 6 lbs., 8 oz. He hardly looks like a preemie, but you must remember that he’s 2 months old now. Surprisingly, he isn’t quite the eater that his sisters are, but he’s getting better. Sorry, I don’t have any pics to update the site with yet. It’s been a bit busy.

Brook and Maddie, the other two at home, are also doing extremely well. They’re taking their bottles well and gaining weight. They’re approaching 6 pounds and will go in for weekly weigh ins with their doctor. They look so much alike, but there are a few little things that we can tell them apart with. Madeline has bigger eyes and her nose is a little more “pug like” compared to Brook. So at this point, we’re not doing anything to identify who’s who.

Lauren and Emma continue to do well in the hospital. They are both taking bottles, but are a bit inconsistent. They finish about 2-5 out of the 8 that they get during the course of the day. They need to take all 8 of them before they can come home. They’re gaining weight and are both members of the 5 pound club. Lauren weighs 5 lbs., 8 oz. and Emma weighs 5 lbs., 3 oz. We’re planning on getting them home in a week or so.

So how the heck are we doing it…well…this is why you haven’t heard from me in a while. Two wasn’t too bad and we had a pretty good system set up, but when we threw Alex into the fold, it got a little hairy. The kids get fed every three hours. Every 2, 5, 8, and 11 of the a.m. and p.m. they get a 2 oz bottle. Angela, her mother and I have been sharing the shifts, including the overnights. By the time we finish feeding all of them, we need to start the next feeding in an hour so it’s a never-ending process. So after a couple days of that, we decided to call in the troops.

For those who do not live in the River Falls community, we have been working at setting up a volunteer system. Our new friend, Brenda Derks, has volunteered to manage the volunteer system. She has planned and organized all of the orientations so far, has put together the schedule and is handling all of the communication with volunteers. To see the schedule click here or it can be found on our “How to Help” page. Our first volunteer started on Monday morning. We currently have one or two people for every 3 hour shift running 24/7, but that will hopefully increase a little in the coming weeks as the final two kids come home. I eventually have to get back to work and Angela’s mom isn’t gonna be with us forever. Brenda is doing an awesome job helping us out! It has to be taking a ton of time, more than I can probably imagine. She put together the link to our website that shows the volunteer schedule. However, the biggest reason that this is such a selfless and amazing job is because Brenda is the original mother of quintuplets in River Falls. I’m sure that she has enough going on at home to put the normal person over the brink of insanity. She actually has 6 kids. Her oldest is several years older than her quints. Brenda’s quints are 6 now and heading to school in a week or two. We have been so blessed by the amazing generosity of this woman who already has so much on her plate, but also sooooooo much experience. Thank you so much Brenda!!! If you’d like to help out, you can reach any of us, including Brenda, by clicking here and using the drop down menu for the person you’d like to contact. To see what spots are open on the volunteer calendar, you can view the schedule by clicking here.

I’ll probably have some pics up by the weekend as my parents and grandparents are making a trip to River Falls this week. I’m sure my mom and grandmother will love having their pictures online for everyone in the world to see. Ha Ha!

Until then…