<\/p>\n
Life for 30-year-old Melissa Reid, of Dove Creek, has been all about the numbers since she brought her quadruplets home.<\/p>\n
Thirty-six diapers a day.<\/p>\n
Four hours between feedings.<\/p>\n
Eight kids in the house.<\/p>\n
One 13-ounce can of condensed formula a day.<\/p>\n
Thirty-two bottles a day.<\/p>\n
Her four babies \u2013 Ryder, Aela, Kamden and Brinlee \u2013 are doing well, and at 3 months. the little bundles of joy have livened up the Reid home. The quadruplets were born on July 28 in Denver and because they were premature didn\u2019t go home to Dove Creek home until Aug. 24. Since then, the family has been settling into a routine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty hectic at first, but it actually is easy once we got them on a schedule,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday morning, all four babies were happy, eating and eager to watch visitors in their home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are just really happy they are all healthy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Statistically speaking, there is one quadruplet birth for every 700,000 births. Meliss and Matt Reid weren\u2019t using fertility medicine or even trying to have a baby. So that makes the chances of such a birth more rare, estimated at 1 in a million.<\/p>\n
Melissa and Matt already had four children in the house: Gauge,12, Tanol 10, Jesslyn, 6, and Zaylee, 22 months.<\/p>\n
When Melissa went to her doctor, he joked that she was going to have a litter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was before he found out I was going to have four babies,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen he found out, he called me right away and apologized about the joke. But he was so excited for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa initially was told that she would have five babies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shocked,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to know what I said.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, the family got additional news when Matt was laid off from his factory job in Nevada.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Melissa made the decision to move closer to family in Dove Creek. Matt said Tuesday that he\u2019s now working at a hardware store in Dove Creek.<\/p>\n
Grandma Diane Brown helps out as much as she can.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really have to keep them on a schedule,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feed them all at the same time; otherwise, we wouldn\u2019t get anything done,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n
They all get their diapers changed at the same time, they all eat every four hours and, for the most part, they all sleep at the same time.<\/p>\n
Melissa said Brown helps out with day feedings, and Matt gets up for night feedings.<\/p>\n
There are two girls and two boys, and they are all fraternal quadruplets, meaning they developed from different eggs.<\/p>\n
But sometimes Melissa has to laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes Ryder will be in Kamden\u2019s crib, and I will give Matt a hard time,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n
When asked how she does it, Melissa smiles the smile of a mom who has things under control.<\/p>\n
\u201cLots and lots of patience,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd lots of support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa says there is a reason for everything. She used to work with people with mental disabilities, a job that required a lot of patience. That job is what prepared her for being a mother of eight, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt taught me to be very, very patient,\u201d she said. \u201cThere really is a reason for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa said her mom has been a big help and a local church buys the family diapers. In addition, community members have given the family food and clothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had tons of community support,\u201d Melissa said.<\/p>\n
The family recently took a trip to the Hauser Pumpkin Patch in Cortez. It was the first family outing for the family of 10. To do so, they had to borrow a van from a friend \u2013 there just isn\u2019t enough room in the family\u2019s 2000 Plymouth Voyager and 1993 Geo Metro.<\/p>\n
But for the most part, Melissa says she is keeping the babies at home. It\u2019s flu season, and she doesn\u2019t want them to get sick, but there is also the transportation issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t really do a whole lot because we don\u2019t have a van that fits the whole family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Melissa has been taking the babies to their appointments.<\/p>\n
The doctors churn out more numbers: Aela is 9.10 pounds, Kamden is 8.13, Ryder is 8.5 and Brinlee is 8.14 Not bad. They were all small when they were born. Ryder, the smallest and first born, weighed 2.10 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are really good babies,\u201d she said, as the babies drifted off to sleep. \u201cI think I have it easy now. It\u2019s when they start moving around that the real fun begins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa said her older kids have adjusted to the large family, but it was not easy at first. In fact, one of the hardest parts was toward the end of her pregnancy, when doctors ordered Melissa to be hospitalized for weeks for the safety of the babies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little overwhelming to double the size of your family overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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