Parents of twins give birth to quintuplets

Video: Mother of quintuplets: ‘It was a tough road’

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   >>> back at 8:09. and now to a new york family who more than doubled in size following the rare birth of quintuplets. mom and dad already have twins at home. we're going to talk to them in a moment, but first, their story. for the first few days, the quintuplets were identified in the neonatal intensive care unit only as baby a, b --

   >> thinking about this --

   >> c, who weighs under one pound, d and e. three girls, two boys.

   >> four of the five actually weighed about anyway from a pound and a half to just under two pounds, which is not bad for 25 weeks.

   >> the mother, bridget maskell, couldn't believe she delivered well before her january due date.

   >> i was doing fine. i wasn't having any contractions at all. and then all of a sudden, i couldn't breathe and then contraction after contraction. so, i knew since it started that she was going to deliver them.

   >> and now that the five babies are here --

   >> i'm just scared right now because they're so small, you know? you're used to bringing home a baby that's like this big and they're like a pound.

   >> the parents know the road ahead is long.

   >> need the cribs, the carseats and everything else.

   >> for 25-weekers, they're actually, they're doing as expected.

   >> the first three months are critical, but this family, including their set of twins, are very hopeful.

   >> prayers, prayers, prayers.

   >> nervous. just broke down in tears, because you know, you prepare for it, but you don't really prepare for it, because you don't expect it to be your own.

   >> and bridget and john are with us exclusively along with perinatologist dr. stephanie mann , who delivered them all.

   >> good morning.

   >> good morning.

   >> bridget , looking at your face in that video and your tears, worried about your babies born at 25 weeks, not an easy delivery for you at all. how are you doing at this time and how are the babies doing?

   >> i'm doing very well this morning. it was a tough road. i was very nervous about them being born so early. i know that their chances of survival were lower. but i went down this morning already and saw them and they're all holding their own. there are no major changes from last night. so they're all doing very well as far as i'm concerned.

   >> dr. mann -- and i apologize, i called you steven. obviously, it's stephanie . the babies , as i mentioned before, 25 weeks, very early. and the odds tend to be stacked against children that are born this early, a 30% survival rate . what are these children up against in the short term and also in the long run?

   >> they definitely have a long road ahead of them, just you know, getting through the intensive care nursery for the next couple of months, and then, you know, several years down the line in terms of their developmental outcome and all the challenges that they're going to face.

   >> so, doctor, what are your greatest concerns right now?

   >> hopefully, getting them through the next couple of weeks. and then my beratest hope for them is that they will leave the nursery.

   >> john, let me ask you, how are you handling this? i mean, it's -- you know, you have 8-year-old twins and now suddenly you have these five babies born premature.

   >> well, i'm just being strong for them. i have the support of their mother and the kids, the twins, and every day i just, it's just a blessing just to see them.

   >> you know, so many people think of multiple births , bridget , and they think of octomom and babies , embryos being implanted. that was not the case with you. you took a drug called overdrol, which if i understand correctly stimulates the ovaries and you produce a certain number of eggs, is that correct?

   >> yeah. i did not have any insemination. i didn't use invitro like she did. i did use a drug called ovadril to make sure when the eggs are leased, they are mature enough to accept the sperm to be fertilized.

   >> and i know when the doctors discovered you were carrying five embryos, they discussed the idea of reduction, removing some embryos so that some would stand a better chance. you and john discussed that and you thought you couldn't remove any of the embryos. why, bridget ?

   >> i didn't feel it was our decision to decide which one had the opportunity to live in this world and which one didn't. that's something that someone else needs to decide.

   >> well, we are so glad that they are all getting the best care possible. we wish you the best of luck, bridget and john, with these babies , and also with the 8-year-old twins, who hopefully will come in very, very handy in the weeks and months ahead, helping to take care of those babies . thank you so much. and dr. stephanie mann , thank you as well.

   >> thank you.

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