Tille Family

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Family Photo

I’m sorry that I don’t get to writing something as often as I used to. The days are long and the minutes just don’t seem to be as available as they used to. Today was a big day and I wanted to write about it so I let Becky and the volunteers tonight take on a little more work without me so that I could get this written. 4 hours later, I’m finally getting it online.

Today was the original due date for the quints. They’re already more than 2 months old and we have 36 pounds of babies!!! They’re doing so well. Since my last post, they’ve done an awesome job with their feedings and they’re getting more efficient. Efficient? That may seem like a silly thing to be so happy about, right? With the kids getting fed every three hours, we often have to wake them up and we struggle to keep them awake long enough to keep drinking an entire bottle. What was happening is that we felt it was so important that they get enough per feeding that we were spending an hour or more on each child. Eventually, we had nonstop feedings going on. Clearly, from the weigh in that you’ll read about in a few minutes, you’ll see that they’re getting enough. One night, I had had enough. I made an executive decision that they each get 40 minutes max and I prefer that its 30. No matter what! Kinda hard core, huh? If they’re lazy or sleepy, they’ll just be hungry next time. I think that a couple of the volunteers have been caught off guard and a little concerned regarding my hard line stance, but I promise you that it didn’t take long for Alex’s lazy ass to finish a full bottle in 25 minutes. On a rare occasion, we worry about if Emma or Lauren are getting enough, but they’re taking enough over the course of the day and are gaining weight just fine.

We go in weekly for weigh ins. Because they’re preemies, we need to be there weekly to keep a tight watch on them. Angela and I are getting better at that too. We break it in to two separate trips to the clinic, but we manage to get there, strip em down, weigh em, dress em and get back home in about 40 minutes per trip. Here are the totals from today.

Brooklyn – 7 lbs., 6 oz.
Lauren – 6 lbs., 3 oz.
Alex – 8 lbs., 2 oz.
Emma – 6 lbs., 2 oz.
Madeline – 7 lbs., 10 oz.

We’ve also had a few memorable moments since my last post. Pastor Hall and his wife were here on bath night over the weekend. We joked with him that he was either well prepared for his sermon in the morning or he was looking for material. We enjoyed having them here and look forward to them being able to come back, assuming I haven’t scared them off. Lauren gave us a gem on another bath night earlier this week; a little pooping issue. Becky was getting Lauren undressed for her turn in the bath and I noticed before she gave her to me that there was a little poo on her butt. Becky took her back to wipe her down. Do any of you remember back to your childhood or your kids’ childhood where they used that device with Playdoh where you could push that lever and all the stuff would come out in different shapes? I swear that Lauren has a lever somewhere and Becky was pushing the hell out of it. That stuff just wouldn’t stop and we had to wait five minutes before she was done. Becky went through 3 diapers and more wipes than you can count. We had to change all the clothes and the changing table cover. All I kept thinking was how upset I would have been if that would have happened in my tub!!! I do not handle poo in the tub well. The world stopped when Meredith pooped in the tub on my bath night. Other minor highlights (and somewhat expected) include Alex and all of his sisters peeing on everything. Alex has peed on his own face and he marked his spot on the wall today.

Angela’s father, Dave, was in town this week. Dave had to take off today and head back down to Iowa, but he got to spend some much needed time with the quints and Meredith for the first time since the quints were born. For those that don’t know Angela’s family background, because of some changes with Dave’s job years ago, he and Becky had to move to Arkansas from Iowa. Becky has since moved back to Iowa. They remain happily married, but live apart during the week. They get to spend time together every couple weeks. The kids have obviously changed since he had been here last. Dave spent a lot of time with Meredith this week too. She absolutely loved it!!!

During a conversation this past weekend about limited space and organization around the house, a volunteer asked if we use the attic space above our garage. I responded with, “What attic space?” There never used to access to that space. There is now. Dave and I worked on that project this week too. It kept me busy but maybe more importantly, out of the way of everyone in the house. I wouldn’t have been able to afford the time to work on that little project without the help of all of our wonderful volunteers.

The volunteers have been great. Thank you so much to everyone for taking time out of your busy lives to help a couple strangers out. We can’t tell you how much you mean to us. I want to recognize Brenda Derks (a very special volunteer) for a minute. I’ve mentioned this before, but Brenda and her husband Jim are the original parents of quintuplets here in River Falls. Brenda has been backbone to our volunteer efforts by heading up the scheduling. She did another orientation this past weekend and has another one scheduled for the 10th at 7 pm at the library here in RF. She has done such an awesome job when she has so much going on in her life. Brenda’s quints headed off to Kindergarten today! I haven’t spoken with her yet, but I’m sure it was a great day. I can’t imagine the emotions that she felt. Angela and I would like to congratulate Brenda and Jim on surely a wonderful day!!!

Lastly, we were in the River Falls Journal again today. They wanted to talk about everyone finally coming home. We had our first picture taken as family at home and I’ll leave you with it. Sorry Meredith didn’t smile. She’s normally quite the ham!

Until next time.