High five as quintuplets make a family of 9

A Las Vegas mother is resting after delivering a healthy set of quintuplets in a Phoenix hospital, bringing five additions to her family’s already full house.

Evonne Derrico, 33, gave birth to three girls and two boys after carrying the babies for eight months, about four weeks longer than the national average for quintuplets.

The new arrivals join the couple’s seven-year-old daughter, three-year-old son, and one-year-old twin boys. All of the children’s names begin with the letter “D.”

Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician, and Daiten were being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit. Each infant weighs less than 3lbs, but their father, Deon Derrico, said that all are healthy.

For he and his wife “to be blessed with this type of gift is just magnificent”.

He said the prospect of caring for such a large family occasionally causes him anxiety, but he says he’s ready. “To go from four to nine, that’s a level of preparation that requires you be a billionaire,” Deon said. “But whatever has to be done to take care of my children, I’m going to do it.”

The infants were delivered at Banner Desert Medical Centre in Mesa, under the supervision of Dr John Elliott.

Deon, 42, who works as a property manager for a real estate company, said family friends have already volunteered to help with the babysitting.

The family lives in a 2,900sq ft, five-bedroom home. They plan to turn their home-theatre room into a nursery. Deon said he needs to figure out what kind of vehicle the family should have; their minivan won’t be big enough to move everyone around at once.

The couple initially thought they would be having quadruplets, but a fifth baby was found in the womb in a later exam.

Deon said the couple conceived without fertility drugs. But they have gone through four miscarriages, and Evonne had been prescribed hormones to help maintain the pregnancy to term. “God is good,” he said. “He gave us all those four back plus one on schedule.”

The family moved to Arizona after 22 weeks for specialised care.

The babies are expected to remain in hospital for several weeks before heading home to Las Vegas.

Deon said he and his wife have not ruled out having more children.

“We’ve always talked about between 11 and 12 children,” he said, adding, “I want as many children as God will bless me with.”