University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
The Messenger
Vol. 5, No. 2/1996
A real Good bunch

     Here's the story of a lovely couple
     That was looking for a family of its own.
     They were hoping to have one baby
     That they could call their own.
 
     With apologies to the Bradys...

     Sitting quietly in the kitchen of his turn-of-the-century
Victorian home in southern York County, Pa., following a
suppertime feeding accomplished with the help of his wife and two
volunteers from his church, Dave Good, Delaware '88, says the
birth of his quintuplets in January, 1995, was both a surprise
and a blessing.
     He and his wife, Ruth, had been married for six years and
had been trying to have children for about two years when they
turned to a fertility program through the Greater Baltimore
Medical Center. After learning that Ruth had, indeed, conceived,
a sonogram was scheduled in August, 1994.
     "When they took the sonogram, I didn't understand what I was
seeing, so I just listened. When the technician started counting,
I wondered how high she would go. I was relieved when she didn't
go any further than five," Ruth says, adding, "We always wanted a
big family."
     Dave says the couple knew that fertility drugs raised the
chance of multiple births. "We were thinking twins or triplets
might be the outcome. When we learned it was quintuplets, we were
really shocked...and blessed."
     The pregnancy was not without complications. Ruth's doctor
ordered complete bedrest in the 20th week, and, in the 26th week,
she was hospitalized briefly after she started experiencing
contractions.
     It was a difficult time, says Dave, an office manager in
Baltimore, because they were not sure if all five babies would
survive. "It was very risky. We didn't know if we should plan for
five or not," he says, adding they took comfort in family,
friends and the fact that "we're strong, Christian people."
     They also began contacting parents of multiples and reading
all the information they could find to prepare for the
anticipated birth day.
     That day came Jan. 25, 1995, almost into Ruth's 31st week of
pregnancy, at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where Dr.
Victor Khouzami decided it was time to deliver by caesarean
section. Nathan Bennett was born at 3:04 p.m., weighing 3 pounds,
6 ounces. He was followed by Patricia Lynn, 2 pounds, 10 ounces,
at 3:05 p.m.; Amanda Ruth, 2 pounds, 8 ounces, at 3:06 p.m.;
Phillip David, 2 pounds, 14 ounces, at 3:07 p.m.; and Katelyn
Marie, 2 pounds, 6 ounces, also at 3:07 p.m.
     Because the Good babies were premature, not all came home at
once. When the first two children arrived at the house, Ruth
jokes, "we thought we were a super mom and dad. Handling two was
a cinch. We were even handling four pretty well, because we had
four hands. That fifth one tipped the balance a little bit."
     The Goods have been assisted by an outpouring of support
from the people of North Harford Baptist Church in neighboring
Jarrettsville, Md., who have teams of volunteers-about 40
total-assigned to help the family from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
daily, and also on several evenings.
     The help is much appreciated by the couple, who shortly
before conceiving had been making plans to accept a call to a
Christian mission in New Jersey.
     "We went from going to the mission field to becoming one,"
Dave says, laughing. "We've got these five lives to take care of
now."
     Besides the assistance, the Goods have been able to cope
because the household is run on a tight schedule. Ruth, a former
elementary school music teacher, says there are pros and cons to
such schedules but the parents feared that, without one, they
would be feeding children around the clock.
     The volunteers arrive at 7 a.m., in time to help feed the
children, whose high chairs are arranged in a neat semi-circle in
the kitchen. The quintuplets take a short nap at 8:30 a.m., have
bottles at 9 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m. and another short nap at
12:30 p.m. They get bottles at 3 p.m., dinner at 4:30 p.m., a
post-dinner nap, then play until 8 p.m.
     And, says Dave, a most cherished moment is "when they all
sleep through the night."
     Also helping the Goods cope is the fact, Dave says, that he
and Ruth are "by nature, kind of calm people.
     "In this situation," he says, "there's not a lot we're going
to do to change things. Instead of worrying, we pray a lot, and
we've had hundreds of people praying a lot, and we've trusted
that God knows what He's doing.
     "There's enough in life to worry about. We just get them
down at 8, hope they sleep through the night and tomorrow's
another day."
                                    -Neil Thomas, Delaware '76


While Dave Good is getting a crash course in fathering in
the '90s, The Messenger is interested in hearing from other
modern dads who would like to share their adventures in
fatherhood. Alums with fathering stories to share are asked to
contact Mary B. Hopkins at (302) 831-1421 or by fax at 
(302) 831-1440.