Proud parents to five new born babies have shared heart-warming photos of the quintuplets for the first time.
Kim and Vaughn Tucci from Perth, Western Australia, welcomed five healthy babies in January – a son, Keith, and four daughters – Ali, Penelope, Tiffany and Beatrix.
Ms Tucci, who also has a nine-year-old son from a previous marriage and two young daughters with her husband, has shared the at times overwhelming task of caring for her precious bundles.
Kim Tucci, from Perth in Western Australia, gave birth to quintuplets in January (Ms Tucci pictured with quintuplets)
She and husband Vaughn welcomed five healthy babies in January – a son, Keith, and four daughters – Ali, Penelope, Tiffany and Beatrix (babies pictured)
The married couple have shared heart-warming professional photographs by Erin Elizabeth of the babies
But one look at the babies’ adorable faces is enough to know the sleepless nights are worth it.
The photos show a glowing 26-year-old Ms Tucci cradling her five babies, their tiny bodies swaddled in soft pastel wraps.
While the couple has shared photos of their children before, this is the first time the babies have featured in a professional shoot.
The adorable pictures capture the sleeping quintuplets in what must be a rare moment of peace.
One of four girls – Ali, Penelope, Tiffany and Beatrix – is pictured swathed in a soft pastel wrap
While the couple has shared photos of their children before, this is the first time the babies have featured in a professional shoot
The adorable pictures capture the sleeping quintuplets in what must be a rare moment of peace
Keith (pictured), the only boy amongst the quintuplets, has four twin girls from the rare birth in January
The logistical challenges the family face on a daily basis have been taking their toll on the young mother, with Ms Tucci recently telling Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes she sometimes ‘locks herself in the bathroom and cries on the floor’ as she adapts to life with seven children all under five years of age.
You just gotta do it. We haven’t got a choice.
The couple change 350 dirty nappies a week and feed each infant eight times a day.
Although are ‘overwhelmed’ by the momentous job, they are the ‘happiest they have ever been in their life’.
‘No-one thought I could do it, and I did, I showed everyone in my life. So, I think it’s the first time that I’ve actually been proud of myself,’ Ms Tucci told the television show.
The chance all babies would survive and be healthy was incredibly low.
Precious cargo: The babies were recently taken to a medical appointment, and Ms Tucci shared the effort that went in to getting them ready
But over a gruelling 27 weeks, Ms Tucci’s body grew to accommodate each infant – each weighing more than a kilogram by the time she gave birth.
Her obstetrician, Professor Jan Dickinson, managed to deliver each healthy baby in under two minutes and said Ms Tucci had a ‘super womb’.
The quintuplets were rushed to intensive care and were monitored for 24 hours a day for six weeks until they grew strong enough to return home.
The couple get daily help from family and volunteers to care for the quintuplets and use feeding changing and sleeping charts to monitor each infant.
‘You just gotta do it. We haven’t got a choice,’ Ms Tucci said.
During her pregnancy, Ms Tucci wrote about her intense struggles with back pain, 12 bathroom trips a night and consuming the recommended 6,000 calories a day to feed her five babies.
‘I’m struggling to eat and force feed myself leaving me with reflux for hours,’ she wrote on her blog Surprised With Five.
‘I can’t tolerate a lot of dairy and I can’t keep protein drinks down, I’m starting to lose weight when I really need to be gaining it.’
Her online posts about dealing with pain, nausea, changes to her body and going to the bathroom 12 times a night, amassed a following of more than 123,000 people – most of them mums who share their own personal stories.
At 24 weeks along, photographer Erin Elizabeth took photos of the expecting mum to commemorate her journey.
The images became a hit on Ms Tucci’s website and Ms Elizabeth’s social media.
A Go Fund Me page has been started to help the Tuccis buy a nine-seater car so they can safely get out and about as a family.
Precious faces: Seeing her babies in intensive care was the hardest part for Ms Tucci
Sharing her story: Ms Tucci shared her pregnancy story in a blog Surprised By five
