HOUSTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- A Houston-area woman has given birth to quintuplets and doctors say they are optimistic the three boys and two girls will all survive.
Veronica Real-Mayorga delivered Aaron, Isaac, Priscilla, Joel and Matilde Saturday, 30 weeks into her pregnancy, with birth weights ranging from 2 1/2 pounds to nearly 4 pounds -- appreciably more than quintuplets typically weigh at birth -- the Houston Chronicle reported.
"They're all so precious," Real-Mayorga said. "To expect smaller babies and then have them this size makes me feel truly blessed."
The babies' neonatologist said the infants still face challenges but haven't experienced any of the complications low-birth weight babies often encounter in the first 90 hours after delivery.
Dr. Ursula Nawab credited a healthy and problem-free pregnancy, saying Real-Mayorga carried the babies at least two weeks longer than most mothers carrying five or more babies usually do.
The birth of quintuplets is not uncommon, as about 50 sets are born in the United States annually, but it is relatively rare for all to survive, Nawab said.
Real-Mayorga was taking fertility drugs, but did not undergo artificial insemination. She and husband Enrique, already the parents of an 8-year-old boy, had been trying to conceive for the past five years, the Chronicle said.
