Tucci quins at 1!
After a tough first year this Perth family gets to celebrate five birthdays all at once
When Woman’s Day first met Kim Tucci she was heavily pregnant and grappling with the news she would soon be welcoming five newborn babies. But after a year of stress and sleepless nights, the Tuccis have some exciting news: the quintuplets are turning one!
“What a year it’s been!” reflects Kim, 27, who was mum to Kurt, 10, Aiva, five, and Indiana, three, when she and partner Vaughn, 33, fell pregnant with quins naturally. “Where has the time gone?”
This time last year, Kim was beside herself with nerves as she was wheeled in to have her caesarean at Perth’s King Edward Memorial Hospital on January 28. Miraculously, it took just two minutes for a team of doctors to deliver her five non-identical newborns.
For the past 12 months, Penelope, Allie, Keith, Beatrix and Tiffany have had their parents – and a team of child-minding volunteers – run off their feet. But having quins does have its benefits. “We get to watch all of their ‘firsts’, five times over – like their first steps and first words,” Kim tells Woman’s Day, revealing that Tiffany was born first, Beatrix was the first to leave hospital, and Keith was the first quin to get a tooth, in mid-october.
“We have had highs and lows, but we would never change our lot – in our eyes we’ve won lotto,” says Kim. “Many tears have been shed over our journey and I have learned so much about myself.
“I remember being so overwhelmed at the thought of needing to buy five cots and car seats, and endless amounts of nappies and baby formula,” she adds.
Indeed, the road to this point hasn’t been easy. Kim admits she suffered postbirth “baby blues” and struggled with the toll having five babies took on her physically.
“I’d look in the mirror and see a ruined body,” says Kim, who had extensive surgery to remove excess fat and stretch marks, the results revealed exclusively in Woman’s Day last October.
The babies have all had to overcome tonsillitis, and in September Tiffany was admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis and a possible twisted bowel. But with those past hardships now behind them, and a first birthday party to organise, Kim and her family can finally enjoy their big day!
‘We would never change our lot – in our eyes we’ve won lotto’