Every time the Megan Hulen family brought the babies on a stroll, numerous individuals and their two triple strollers greeted them with well wishes, neighbors driving to bathe the baby, and lots of inquiries. At 32 weeks gestation, Allison, Adam, Madison, Emma, and Chloe were delivered at the New Sanford Medical Center in Fargo on September 2, 2020. They stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for just three weeks before being taken home by Megan and Joshua Hulen to join their elder siblings, Jacob, 8, and Matthew, 3. “Now that they have started climbing,” Megan’s mother added.
It’s a completely different venture in and of itself! Couple Megan and Joshua Hulen from North Dakota were already parents to Jacob, 7, and Matthew, 2, when they decided to try for another baby in hopes of having another baby girl. So Megan underwent a type of fertility treatment and taking follicle stimln injections. Her doctor advised calling off the treatment but anyway Hulen ended up ovue treatmenz uints were conceived. The couple joined an ultrasᴏᴜnd after six weeks where they were initially told that there was only one earbeat and that it was unlikely that all five .
She said: “A week later, we came back and saw five heartbeats. I was very shocked the ultrasound technician worried they were hechnician worried they were hechnician worried they were hurting after years I told me I was running ‘because you’re shaking. Ultrasound I told my husband I couldn’t go home because I needed time to freak out from the kids so we went to his office and I sat in the corner and cried for about an hour. But that taught her to stay calm. Megan noticed that there was a big difference between carrying one and carrying five. She said: “There is a lot of difference from pregnant with one and with five. I couldn’t vacuum the carpet without a break. Standing in front of the mirror to put on my makeup, I would become too winded or too tired to lift weights and need to sit down. Even half an hour is too long to stand!”
The Doctor tells the Hulen that there is a one in 43-million chance they will get pregnant nature and they are one with ! At 32 weeks, all babies were born at 2:20 am by cesarean section. Allison weighs 3 pounds 5.6 ounces; Adam 4 pounds 0.2 ounces; Madison 3 pounds 6 ounces; Emma 3 pounds 10.9 ounces; and Chloe weigh 3 pounds and 3.5 ounces. Although Megan was discharged about three days after birth, the five-fold babies remained under observation in intensive care for about three weeks, waiting for them to be born. Certainly the arrival of five new babies in the house has wreaked havoc in the family. Jacob and Matthew were really excited to finally have four sisters and a new brother at home, while the original parents had trouble sleeping at night with all five newcomers to cuddle, lull and feed. right way!
The first few weeks were not easy for this much larger family. Megan said: “I anticipated and prepared for the amount of laundry that I would wash but it was even more than I expected. With five babies Sometimes I feel like I’m living in spit-ups. After every few feedings, I do a lot of laundry. In the end, I had to wash about three or four loads of clothes a day and that has now become the norm.” Megan is usually busy waking up at 3 a.m. every morning to feed and then waking up at 7 a.m. before trying to get some rest between 7:30 and 8 a.m., when her older sons than wake up. She then began teaching Jacob at home before moving on to preparing and administering Matthew’s medication. After Matthew is cared for, one or two babies will “start fussing” and Megan will begin her military-style feeding operation.
Her big secret to raising multiple kids is keeping the kids on a strict schedule. All five babies were bottle-fed at the same time or changed diapers at the same time. That allows her to have breathing space at different times of the day. If she takes care of two or three children at once and then takes care of the rest of them, she will never get a break. But every time a baby enters a new stage of development, parents have to make adjustments. “I’d say it’s a learning experience every time a new milestone comes up,” she said. Now that they’re eating solid food, it can be quite a messy process.”
