TAMA NEWS-HERALD – “Never in a million years can you be prepared to hear that you’re expecting quintuplets. I know that because that’s exactly what we were told on January 27, 2009. Your life is forever altered!”

Angela and Heath Tille begin the story of the birth of their four new daughters and son with those words on their website –

www.tillefamily.com

And on June 19, the quints were born to the couple at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn., in the space of three minutes. They join the couple’s daughter, Meredith Grace, who was born Nov. 6, 2007.

Angela Tille is the daughter of David and Becky Pansegrau, rural Tama, and is a 1996 graduate of South Tama High School. Grandparents of the quintuplets and Meredith Grace include Doris Pansegrau, rural Toledo, and Mark and Katherine Croskrey, rural Tama.

Heath Tille is a native of George and Rock Rapids, Iowa. The Tilles are both 31 and now live at River Falls, Wis.

Gloria O’Connell, media spokesperson for the hospital, told The News-Herald on Monday afternoon the five babies were “doing well.”

She said they remain in the hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and are listed as “critical but continue to improve every day and are really healthy babies.”

The quintuplets and their birth weight are Brooklyn Elizabeth , 2 lb. 11 oz, Lauren Olivia, 2 lb. 3.5 oz., Alex Michael, 2 lb. 10 oz., Emma Nicole 2 lb. .5 oz., and Madeline Paige, 2 lbs. 6 oz.

The hospital news release gave this account of the birth:

“A team of 11 clinicians led by perinatologists William Block, MD, and William Wagner, MD, high-risk obstetrician/gynecologists from Abbott Northwestern, delivered the babies.

“Children’ clinical staff of 17, led by neonatologists David Brasel, MD, Bruce Ferrara, MD, Ronald Hoekstra, MD, Jane Barthell, MD, and Virginia Hustead, MD, stabilized and transported the quintuplets through a tunnel connecting the hospital to Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.”

Also, here’s more from the Tille’s website:

“Our Story”

“Up to this point, I would say that you could describe us as a couple of “normal” (and those who know us know that I use that term loosely! ?) Midwestern kids. Heath and I (Angela) both grew up in small town Iowa; Heath from Rock Rapids and me from Tama. We met in college in 1996 at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls (Go Panthers!), graduated in December of 2000 and were married on September 29, 2001. After getting married, we lived in the Milwaukee – Racine Wisconsin area for five years. In January 2007, we relocated to River Falls, Wisconsin, and that’s where we lay our heads at night.

“We battled infertility for years and eventually decided that we would forgo any aggressive fertility treatments. What we really wanted was to be parents, and it didn’t matter to us if the child(ren) were biological or not. We started the adoption process in 2005 to adopt a child through international adoption from South Korea. In April 2007, as we continued to wait for our adoption referral, we found out that we were pregnant! We were truly shocked and viewed this as our “miracle” baby. Our daughter Meredith Grace was born on November 6, 2007 and our world was turned upside down. We were truly over the moon and knew right away that we wanted to try to have another child. At least at this point we took comfort in the fact that it was possible for us to get pregnant and carry to term.

“Family planning hasn’t exactly worked for our family, and we had no idea how long it would take us to conceive again. We were fairly certain, however, that the likelihood of our getting pregnant again without medical help was slim. Since I was diagnosed years ago with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, we knew that lack of ovulation was the infertility issue we were battling. After attempting to use the oral medication Clomid again to no avail, our doctor suggested that we try Follistim (an injectible medication used to stimulate ovulation) and our insurance approved. We did one round of that fertility medication. I guess you could say that it workeda little too well perhaps. We knew before we started that there was a chance of having multiples; we just never thought we would be in that 1% to conceive quads or more.

“Hello world!

June 19th, 2009

Hello

“Just breathe. Everyone is ok. We have 5 healthy babies today. Outside of some assistance with oxygen, we have 4 healthy girls and 1 healthy boy. Madeline, Brooklyn, Lauren, Emma, and Alex. I don’t know the order or any other vitals if I’m not looking at my cheat sheet and I’m too tired to go get it.

“Angela is doing fine. She’s resting now.

“Thank you so much to the staff at ANW and at Children’s. The care you provided today was AWESOME!!!

“After while, I’ll try to get some more up on the site. We’re just beat! If you’d like more info, there is a story at www.startribune.com.

“Until then”