Perth couple Kim and Vaughn Tucci, who gave birth to quintuplets earlier this year. Picture: 60 Minutes/Channel 9

Kim Tucci, 26, and her husband Vaughn Tucci made international headlines earlier this year following the birth of their four daughters - Ali, Penelope, Tiffany and Beatrix - and one son, Keith.

Mrs Tucci took to her popular Facebook page Surprised by Five, which has more than 300,000 followers, to reveal that Tiffany’s breathing is “laboured and she is inconsolable”.

The adorable Tucci quintuplets.Source:Facebook

Tiffy has had a rough day! We are in hospital and the doctor isn’t sure what’s wrong with her,” Mrs Tucci wrote.

“After refusing to take a bottle all day she has had to have a feeding tube put in. This has brought back so many NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit] memories I thought I had left behind.

“Ten hours I have held Tiffany in my arms, she has ran out of tears so many have been shed.

My back hurts, I’m tired and I know my other babies need me at home. It’s safe to say I’m feeling absolutely defeated! I know tonight is going to be beyond hard for her.”

The babies packed into the car.Source:Facebook

Later she posted an update, saying that Tiffany had been diagnosed with Bronchiolitis and a possible twisted bowel.

“She hasn’t fed since yesterday at 4am and even a tube feed ... can’t be tolerated. Being in a position watching your child struggle to breath is heart breaking!

“What breaks my heart even more is that a child in the same hospital we are at has died today of meningococcal. Go and give your children an extra hug and kiss tonight, life is so very precious.”

The quintuplets all in their baskets, ready to be taken home from hospital.Source:Facebook

Mrs Tucci had a painful, tricky pregnancy and had to consume 6000 calories a day (three times the recommended average daily intake for a woman) to keep the babies nourished.

“I’m finding it hard to eat as I basically have no room left in my stomach and the way it is positioned it’s pushed all the way back with the babies leaning against it. During a quintuplet pregnancy it’s recommended that I be taking in 6000 calories a day!!” she wrote on Facebook in January.

“I’m struggling to eat and force feed myself leaving me with reflux for hours. I can’t tolerate a lot of dairy and I can’t keep protein drinks down, I’m starting to lose weight when I really need to be gaining it.

Kim Tucci,26, from Perth, pictured while pregnant with quintuplets. Picture: Erin Elizabeth PhotographySource:Supplied

She added: “My skin on my belly is so stretched it’s painful and hot to touch, it literally feels like I have hives!! No amount of cream helps relieve the discomfort.”

“I have a lot of stretch marks now, dealing with such a huge change in my body is hard.

“My husband always reminds me I should wear my stripes with pride and that I should be proud of them and what my body has achieved. Without him I would have broken down a long time ago,” she said.

The family set up a GoFundMe page earlier this year to raise funds to assist the couple with ongoing medical costs.