A day after America celebrated its 248th birthday, a one-in-60-million set of quintuplets celebrated their first day of life.
Ashley and Tyler Meyers of Laurel, Mississippi welcomed their two sons and three daughters on July 5th at Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants, located at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC).
The quintuplets were born at 27 weeks via cesarean section.
Franklin Walker first entered the world at 1:23 p.m. He was followed by his siblings, Carter James at 1:26 p.m., Saylor Kate at 1:28 p.m., Allie Ray at 1.30 p.m., and finally, Nova Mae at 1.31 p.m.
The quintuplets were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.
With the birth of their newborns, the Meyers—who are already parents to Paisleigh, 3, and Westlynn, 2—have grown to a family of nine.
‘I Was in Complete Shock’
Married for seven years, Ms. Meyers and her husband learned about their surprise pregnancy in January.After a pregnancy test confirmed Ms. Meyers was pregnant, her blood work suggested she might be expecting twins, so she wasn’t shocked to see two sacs appear on the screen during her first ultrasound visits.
However, two weeks later, her ob-gyn told her she was having three more children.
“I was in complete shock,” Ms. Meyer said.
Mr. Meyers, a mechanic, was also a bit overwhelmed.
“I was like, ‘How are we going to do this?’” the 28-year-old said. “But you just need to leave it up to God. He is not going to put you in a situation that you can’t handle.”
Dr. Rachel Morris, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UMMC said the odds of spontaneous quintuplets are about one in 60 million.
The care team for the mother and babies comprised 30 specialists in neonatology and neonatal nursing, in addition to experts in obstetrics, gynecology, hematology, respiratory therapy, anesthesiology, and surgery.
Sharing an update on the newborns, Ms. Meyers said: “They are doing so fantastic, and we couldn’t be more thankful for what everyone has done throughout this process and journey.”
