Texas Woman Gives Birth To Premature Quintuplets; Babies Placed On Breathing Machines And Doing ‘Remarkably Well’
Michelle Seals first thought she would be having twins, until several follow-up doctor visits revealed two more babies — then two more after that.
It turns out that the first-grade teacher from Texas was having quintuplets, or five babies born at the same time. “We were shocked, we went from two to four, and then six and one didn’t make it,” Seals told NBCDFW.
The babies were born at 29 weeks and one day — about eight weeks early. Since they were born prematurely, as is common for quintuplets (which rarely survive past birth), they were placed on breathing machines. They are currently being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit, and doctors believe they'll be able to breathe on their own soon. “Overall, they’ve done remarkably well,” Dr. Vijay Nama, director of neonatology at the Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, said at a news conference, according to Fox News. “They’re premature and they’re quintuplets, but they’ve done pretty good.”
Seals, 33, experienced morning sickness for 14 weeks before going on bed rest after Christmas break. She was then admitted to Baylor in January. After the experience of birthing her children, Seals says she’s doing well and is ready to hold her babies. “I’m doing good, I feel good, definitely sore but overall better than I was expecting,” Seals told NBCDFW.
A fertility specialist at Baylor, Dr. Anil Pinto, said that one of the medications Seals was taking actually increases the risk of having multiple twins by six or seven percent. Another medication she was also taking increased that risk by 15 percent — but most of those are often twins, and rarely more than that.
The couple shared the names and weights of their babies, in the order they were born:
Mia Danielle Seals (girl), 2 lbs., 10 oz.
Tessa Suzanne Seals (girl), 2 lbs., 14 oz.
Brant Lee Seals (boy), 3 lbs., 6 oz.
Gracie Lou Seals (girl), 2 lbs., 7 oz.
Rayleigh Ann Seals (girl), 2 lbs., 8 oz.