Growing Your Baby - Parenthood from Pregnancy to Pre-school » Jenny and Brian Masche

Masche Sextuplets To Star In “Raising Sextuplets”

Lisa — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:05:33 +0000

Mega Multiples seem to be getting a lot of attention lately.

With the success of Jon and Kate Plus 8 and the arrival of the amazing octuplets today, networks are clamoring to profile these families.

The Masche Sextuplets will be the next Mega family to hit the small screen when the continuation of their show “Raising Sextuplets” airs on WE in June.

The family decided to do the show because they thought it was the perfect opportunity to document all six of their children’s lives. The show will follow the family and show how Bryan and Jenny Masche raise their three boys, Blake, Cole, and Grant and their three girls, Savannah, Molli, and Bailey, while still managing to keep full-time jobs. The family lives by themselves and manages to do everything by themselves; the only help the family does receive is from the sextuplets’ grandparents. To manage this, Bryan and Jenny have to maintain different work schedules. Brian works during the day as a pharmaceutical sales rep and Jenny works the night shift in the ER of Kingman Regional Medical Center as a physician’s assistant.

The couple’s adventure all began when they decided to try artificial insemination after not being able to have children on their own for two and a half years. On June 11, 2007 the sextuplets were born in Phoenix at the Good Samaritan Hospital through cesarean section. Jenny delivered the sextuplets at 30 weeks, eight weeks premature. After the delivery Jenny went into heart failure and nearly died. Luckily, Jenny is now well and happy and the family was blessed with six healthy babies who have no health issues.

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Masche 6 All Doing Well

Lisa — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:41:00 +0000

Ever since the six babies made their appearance just over 2 months ago there has been a lot of interest in how Masches are doing.

Now that all 6 of their babies are home, Jenny and Brian are settling into a routine that includes 38 bottles of milk, 18 changes of clothes, two loads of laundry and 50 diapers a day.

The sextuplets were born at 32 weeks gestation on June 11th. Jenny had been bed rest for an extended period by then and was ready to meet her new family.

The babies were lucky enough to only stay in the NICU for about 5 – 6 weeks (each one went home at a different time) and now they have settled into their own home 3 1/2 hours from Phoenix.

The Daily Mail has a few photos of the family all together as well as a shot of Jenny in the later days of her pregnancy.

They also asked the couple if they will be trying for any more children. The response cleared the colour from both parents faces as they both echoed “no”. Bryan has booked an appointment for a vasectomy next month.

UPDATE: All Of The Masche Sextuplets Home!

Lisa — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:25:00 +0000

Jenny and Brian Masche are finally able to enjoy their new family in the privacy of their own home.

The babies have been going home one by one when they are gaining weight, able to maintain their temperature and take all feeds by mouth.

Jenny updated the family site this week talking about having all six babies home at once.

Blake was the first one to arrive much to our surprise, so mom got to spoil him for 2 whole days! He came home on Thursday July 19th at 5 1/2 wks old. Then Grant followed on Saturday, Bailey and Savannah followed on Tuesday, Molli on Friday and King Cole on Sunday.

Getting the babies on track:

The nannies that are helping us are WONDERFUL and very strict with the schedule. Their goal is 6 little precious babies sleeping through the night within 12-14 weeks (from 40 week due date). That will make for a VERY happy mom and dad!

On Cole’s recovery after surgery:

Cole had a very successful surgery on his tiny little bowel one week ago. He did very well and healed quickly and was “eating and pooping” within days. He is my best little eater!!!! He also likes momma’s nummies the best!!! He loves to nurse and is helping keep the milk supply up!

On all the amazing help and support from friends and family:

This week my sister Jami, Jane, niece Tori, and MY momma are all helping out. I also had 3 days of help from grandpa Bob, my brother Jeff, and my aunt Susie from Iowa and uncle Tom from Colorado Springs. AND my cousin Maddi from Boise. AND my aunt Kathy comes over every single morning for 4 to 5 hours to help feed the babies…….. she takes off work to be here, we are so lucky! Wow, that’s a lot of help!!! It has been amazing how these 6 little ones bring in company and family members from all over the country!!!

Jenny and Brian are still not home. They have been staying with family in Phoenix while the babies grew stronger and bigger. In a week they will be heading home to Lake Havasu to start their new life with their babies in their own home.

We are going to have a caravan for our 3 1/2 hour drive……….. well with 6 babies it may be more like 5 or 6 hours!!!

We wish the Masches the best for the future. Six babies will be a lot of work, but hopefully they will get into a groove and stay organized.

One thing I am really excited about…Jenny is breastfeeding the babies! I don’t know how, but she is – unbelievable!

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2 More of Masche Sextuplets Go Home

Lisa — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:05:00 +0000

More good new for the Masche family. Parents Jenny and Brian were able to bring two more of their sextuplets home yesterday, leaving just two babies in the NICU.

Savannah and Bailey Masche left Phoenix Children’s Hospital yesterday and join Blake and Grant who are already home.

A hospital spokesperson says Cole is still being monitored after having surgery earlier this week.

Molly is doing well and will probably get to go home soon, say officials.

The family is staying with relatives in the Valley until the last of the babies are released.

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Masche Sextuplets Going Home One At A Time!

Lisa — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:32:00 +0000

After arriving 7 weeks early last month, the Masche sextuplets will be going home one at a time.

Jenny Masche, the babies mom, told the Today Show this morning that Blake will be coming home today to be followed by Baily in a day or two.

Cole would have been the first but he has to undergo surgery to correct a type of hernia at his belly button. Hopefully, they will have him home by Tuesday.

“I’m kind of lucky that I get one at a time,” Jenny said. “I get one baby for a few days, then I’ll have two babies. We’ll kind of wean me into the process.”

The other three babies — Grant, Savannah and Molli — are still partially dependent on feeding tubes and must remain in the hospital until they are able to “suck, swallow and breathe at the same time,” Jenny said. All can take partial feedings orally, but must finish feeding by tube.

Last week I updated Jenny’s condition after she suffered acute heart failure several hours after giving birth. On her blog she said that her eyesight wasn’t 100% and that she was undergoing vestibular therapy that would last for the 4 weeks. At that time reading was difficult and she was unable to drive.

Today, she says that she is 90% better, which is good to hear. She will need to be at 150% in order to keep up with her babies.

The whole family has pitched in to help with feedings and diaper changes…even grampa. Jenny’s mom says that “these are the first diapers he’s changed in his whole life.”

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Masche Sextuplets UPDATE!

Lisa — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 22:14:00 +0000

I have an update in the Masche Sextuplets born in Arizona on June 11th.

The babies were born prematurely after 30 weeks and four days in utero, and all but one weighed less than three pounds.

Shortly after their arrival, Jenny, their mom, went into cardiac arrest due to extra blood flooding out of her uterus and stretching her heart and blood vessels to a very, very critical level.

She remained in the hospital for 2 weeks post birth and is now home, but not feeling 100%. She writes in her blog that:

Sometime while I was in the hospital I got an inner ear virus and it did some damage on my vestibular system (that keeps your world looking normal). Fortunately, he said my case was mild and would improve over TIME………. that is the difficult part for me. I started vestibular therapy today and it will last for the next 4 weeks. Reading is difficult, I am unable to drive because I can’t track things well, and lights really both my eyes. I would like to ask for prayer that I would see completely normal again and preferably before the babies come home!!!

Jenny then goes on to update how the babies are doing:

The babies are growing well, Grant and Bailey are in first place both weighing 3″7oz (they are racing to come home first), then Blake and Cole are over 3 lbs, while Savannah is 2″12oz and our precious Molli is 2″7oz. Molli is very active and doesn’t like to sleep, so she is burning more calories than the other babies. Cole will still have to have surgery on his colon (under his belly button) because there is a little hole, but he is doing amazing and they said the surgery is real easy and not too invasive. Blake, Grant and Bailey all have blond hair, while Cole, Molli and Savannah have dark hair. They all have beautiful flawless skin and perfect little features
The boys seem to be pretty calm and mellow, while the girls want to be in on all the action! Bailey especially wants to be up and looking around all day long, she’s afraid to miss the action! We will try to take some more pictures and put them on the website so everyone can see how much they have changed…….. it is so much fun to watch them grow! We are expecting the first ones to come home in about 2-3 weeks, we just have to wait for them to suck, swallow and breath (at the same time) and then they will be home, otherwise they are all doing everything they are suppose to be doing. I can’t wait for you all to meet them!

Brian, the daddy, is adjusting to parenthood well. He has been initiated with some messy diaper and a nighttime bath session.

He will have no choice but to become a pro with 6 babies on their way home in a few short weeks.

They have included some pictures of the Mache team on their website. All of the babies look beautiful and we are very excited that they are doing well.

It IS nothing short of a miracle that Jenny was able to keep them in until almost 31 weeks. The babies obviously benefited from their extra time in the womb because all of them were breathing independently just 24 hours after birth.

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Fourth Minnesota Sextuplet Dies

Lisa — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 03:32:00 +0000

Just 2 weeks after making her entrance into the world, 18 weeks early, Cadence Morrison has passed away.

Four of the six Morrison babies born June 10 in Minneapolis have died, according to a statement released today by Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

Cadence Morrison died Saturday. Three of her brothers, Tryg, Bennet and Lincoln, died within one week of their birth. The remaining two children – one boy and one girl – remain in critical condition at Children’s in Minneapolis.

“Though our difficult time continues, our faith remains strong,” said parents Ryan and Brianna Morrison in the statement. “Our families, friends, and churches have provided us with great comfort, for which we are deeply grateful.”

The sextuplets were born at 22 weeks, which is considered an extreme limit of viability. Their birthweights ranged from 11 ounces to 1.3 pounds. Health officials believe the Morrison babies were the first sextuplets to all survive birth in Minnesota.

There are roughly a dozen sets of sextuplets to survive infancy in U.S. history. The Masche sextuplets, who were born in Arizona within 12 hours of the Morrison children, remain stable.

Brianna Morrison, 24, had taken fertility drugs for the pregnancy. The Morrisons decided against selective reduction, a procedure that would have eliminated some of the fetuses in the womb but improved the odds of survival for the remaining ones.

The Morrison’s struggle has gained worldwide attention. Nearly 200,000 people have visited their web site.

“I just wanted to say that I am praying with all my heart,” said one writer on the site. “I check this site regularly 2 or more times a day praying to see that things are improving. I can’t imagine what you both are going through”

I am praying that this family will get to take these remaining twins home. After everything that they have been through it would be heartbreaking for them to not have a baby to take home in the end.

This poor girl was on bedrest for weeks trying to stay calm so that the babies could grow. Her and her husband moved into the hospital, to improve the babies chances of survival.

I cannot imagine how they are feeling right now…Our thoughts are with them.

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The Sextuplet Backlash

Lisa — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:13:00 +0000

Since posting the arrival of the 2 sets of sextuplets last week I have received MANY e-mails expressing concerns and anger.

The e-mails come from parents who have singletons and multiples, grandparents and health care providers.

There are three issues that are weighing on most peoples minds – the future health of these babies, reducing the fetuses when the number of babies is revealed and the shameless promotion of them to receive financial support.

The media circus around the births of these megamultiples appears to be leaving out the fact that carrying this many babies is not natural or healthy. Just hours after delivering her 30 week sextuplets, last week, Jenny Masche almost died from heart problems due to the huge volume of blood she was carrying in her body while pregnant. When the babies were delivered, some the extra blood flooded out of her uterus and “stretched her heart and blood vessels to a very, very critical level.

An increased chance of gestational diabetes, risks for hypertension, stroke and preeclampsia are also some of the other issues that these multiple birth moms face.

It may seem exciting and unbelievable that so many babies were born at the same time, but it is not safe. Any baby born before 32 weeks runs the risk of having long term health problems. Carrying, triplets, quads or quints past 30 weeks is difficult guaranteeing that the babies will all need to be admitted to the NICU to grow further on arrival.

This, of course, brings up the issue of fetal reduction. I can see why both couples chose not to reduce the fetus’ growing inside their wombs. The procedure is similar to an abortion and needs to be performed between 9 and 11 weeks gestation. It would be hard for a parent who has been trying for many years to conceive to decide that they do not want to keep one or more of their ‘babies’.

You can, however, get caught up in the previous success stories of other multiple families which sometimes makes couples feel invincible. Not all pregnancies are the same, therefore you cannot expect to have the same outcome as other moms.

I truly believe that the Morrison babies were delivered and resuscitated because they were a high profile case. There are not many hospitals that would resuscitate a 22 week old baby, let alone 6. When I was 23 weeks 5 days pregnant and in labour, the OB told me that they were not going to save my baby if he was born that day. They strongly believed that any baby born before 24/25 weeks would have such extensive health issues that it is better to just not try and in this case they were wrong. My son was born at 24 weeks 1 day and is currently thriving like any 18 month old baby. That is not to say that he would have had the same outcome if forced to arrive 2 weeks prior to his birth date.

I don’t believe that these parents realize what they have signed up for. Your yearly trip to Mexico – will no longer happen. Personal time – gone. Co-ordinating nurses, therapists, pediatricians and specialists will become your full time job after you are done dealing with endless laundry, feedings and diaper changes.

The last issue is summed up by a GYB reader Anna

When I had my triplets there was no foundation set up to support our family and no registry posted on our website. We made due with what we had and got support from friends and family. What makes these families any different? Where do there get off thinking that the rest of us should support their family? My husband works 2 jobs because I have to stay home with our boys. We don’t have the luxuries that we used to have, but everyone is fed and happy. I think it is ridiculous for this family (Masche family) to suggest that the rest of us could contribute to their new truck or nursery. You made the decision to have six babies, it is your responsibility to support them! (the truck has been since removed from the site with the 3 registries still listed)

MANY readers feel the way that Anna does. Moms who have twins, triplets and single babies have been writing, echoing these same sentiments. They have had to support their families the old fashioned way – by working over time or 2 jobs. Now that the Morrison 6 is now just triplets. Should they still warrant the donations that were intended for 6 babies? Some people think no. After all, there were over 7,000 sets of triplets born in the U.S. last year.

Everyone has their reasons why they think that fertility drugs should be monitored more closely. Mine is that I think it is sad that women are having ‘litters’. We were not meant to deliver 5, 6, or 7 babies at a time. That’s why your chance of having ‘natural’ triplets is 1 in 8,100 (only about 30% of triplets are ‘natural’), ‘natural’ quads is 1 in 729,000 (only about 6% of quads are ‘natural’) and ‘natural’ quints is 1 in 55,000,000.

Now that the babies are here I hope that the population can set aside their animosity for how they got here and wish them the BEST. I suspect that these moms probably thought that having six babies would be better than not having any at all…

After the fanfare is over and the cameras have moved on to the next sensation, both moms will have a lot of work ahead of them to keep their multiples safe, fed and loved.

We wish them the best – let’s hope they’re up to the challenge.

Arizona Sextuplet Mom Recovering From Heart Failure

Lisa — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:41:00 +0000

After delivering all six babies safely, doctors concern turned to their mother. Jenny Mashe suffered acute heart failure several hours after giving birth to her three daughters and three sons Monday, Dr. John Elliott said.

“It’s a mixed blessing,” Elliott said at a news conference at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.

The heart problems were due to the huge volume of blood Masche was carrying in her body while pregnant. When the babies were delivered, some the extra blood flooded out of her uterus and “stretched her heart and blood vessels to a very, very critical level,” Elliott said.
“So for a while she was very sick.”

Doctors put Masche in the hospital’s intensive care unit and gave her drugs to help her heart deal with the extra blood. Elliott said Masche is now stable and he expects her to be out of the hospital’s ICU by Wednesday.

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PHOTOCREDIT:DAILMAIL.CO.UK

Ariz. Sextuplets Breathing On Their Own!!!!

Lisa — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:59:00 +0000

Doctors shows Jenny Masche one of her sextuplets, baby E, born Monday, June 11, 2007, in Phoenix, Ariz.

Sextuplets born in what their father called a surreal moment were breathing on their own Tuesday after five were removed from ventilators.
New dad Bryan Masche, 29, said he and his wife, Jenny, 32, had tears of joy as their three girls and three boys were delivered by Caesarean section.

“It was unbelievable,” Masche said on NBC’s “Today” show. “The team was just incredible. Everyone moved like a symphony, an orchestra. Really amazing. I almost felt like I was outside of my own body — looking in on the entire thing. It was amazing.”

The sextuplets were almost 10 weeks premature and weighed between 2 pounds, 1 ounce and 3 pounds. The couple, who used artificial insemination, had the first successful sextuplet delivery in Arizona.

Five of the babies were immediately placed on ventilators to help them breathe for their first day. The doctors “have assured me that all the babies are doing really well,” Masche said.

“They’ve also had their first meal and had to have their first diapers changed already,” he said.

The babies will be named Bailey Elizabeth, Savannah Jane, Molli Grace, Cole Robert, Blake Nickolas and Grant Williams, but Masche and his wife, Jenny, had yet to decide who gets which.

The Masche sextuplets were one of two sets of sextuplets born in different states less than a day apart, a rare occurrence but one that fertility experts say could become increasingly common as more couples seek artificial methods of conceiving babies.

Brianna Morrison, 24, who used fertility drugs, gave birth just before midnight Sunday in Minneapolis, about 10 hours before the Masche babies were born.

“It is something that we’re going to be dealing with more and more,” unless doctors learn how to reduce the risk of women having four or more babies, said Dr. F. Sessions Cole, a pediatrics professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

The fact that all 6 of these babies are breathing on their own is an absolute miracle. Brian should be very proud of Jenny for getting these babies to 30 weeks. She did a great job.

Grand Canyon University has already stepped up and offered scholarships to all six babies when they are able to attend University. The anticipated tuition hit of $1.2 million for Bryan and Jenny Masche of Lake Havasu, Ariz., may be too much for them to bear. With the generous gift of full scholarships for all six children from Grand Canyon University, the burden of paying for college tuition for the Masche children is completely covered.

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