Submitted Photo Josh and Megan Hulen of Surrey are pictured with their quintuplets, who were born Sept. 2. From left to right, the babies are Allison, Adam, Madison, Emma and Chloe.

There will be a “drive-by baby shower” from 2 to 4 p.m. this Sunday for Surrey couple Joshua and Megan Hulen of Surrey, who welcomed the state’s first ever quintuplets last month.

Items for the babies such as diapers or clothing can be dropped off at a location outside the door at 14 Harmony Boulevard in Surrey. Friends will collect the items and bring them indoors. The Hulens are following social distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic. The baby shower was organized by one of their neighbors and a friend.

Quintuplets Allison, Adam, Madison, Emma and Chloe – four girls and a boy – were born on Sept. 2 at the New Sanford Medical Center in Fargo. They were born at 32 weeks gestation and spent just three weeks in the neo-natal intensive care unit before the Hulens were allowed to bring them home to join their big brothers, Jacob, 7, and Matthew, 2.

“They were all healthy,” said Megan Hulen.

Multiples tend to be born early and are at higher risk of complications, but the Hulen babies “flew through” the steps required by the neo-natal intensive care unit for them to be released from the hospital ahead of schedule. The Hulens had been warned ahead of time that babies might not be released until their official due date.

Megan Hulen said she has gotten used to answering questions ranging from how the babies were conceived to how she and Josh are managing to take care of five babies at once, plus their older two boys.

People are unfamiliar with quintuplets, so she has to specify that she had five babies at once.

And “no, they’re weren’t IVF,” said Megan Hulen. The Hulens had been trying for a girl, so Megan Hulen had been undergoing another type of fertility treatment and taking follicle stimulation injections. Her doctor had advised calling off the treatment because of some issues, but Hulen ended up ovulating anyway that month and the quints were conceived.

The Hulens were surprised, to say the least, when they learned they would be having five babies. The babies are the first quintuplets to be born in North Dakota.

Megan Hulen said the pregnancy went smoothly and the only medical issue she had was gestational diabetes, which was easily managed. She was not placed on bed rest. Her specialists felt it was better for her and for the babies if she could avoid bed rest unless it became absolutely necessary.

The Hulens were in Fargo when the babies were born, but they had moved to Surrey from Missouri about two years ago. Joshua Hulen works as a road master for the BNSF Railroad. His job has fairly flexible hours, which has also allowed him more time at home to help take care of the babies.

Megan Hulen said the Hulens have not been short of offers from friends and neighbors to come and rock the babies or help out in other ways, but Megan Hulen said they have been cautious about letting people outside the household visit. They wanted to avoid exposing the children to COVID-19 or other illnesses. But she said they might start letting some volunteer baby rockers help out if they are careful about following all of the health guidelines to help keep the children safe.

The Hulens have gotten some helpful tips on caring for multiples that has helped them to feed, burp, change and put the babies to bed in assembly line fashion. Bottle propping, for instance, means they can get several of the babies fed at one time. Diaper changes come any time there’s a feeding.

“We’re running on a NICU schedule” that the babies had been used to, said Megan Hulen, which has made it all much easier to manage.