Quintuplets born at Providence Memorial Hospital in El Paso

Susana Giron and Marco Delgado knew they were going to have a multiple birth, but the number grew even more than expected.

“Life is a gift, life is a blessing,” Delgado wrote on the family’s GoFundMe account. “My wife Susana, and I are very excited to start a new family. A (few) months ago our doctor gave us the news that my wife was pregnant with triplets. We could not believe what the doctor told us; we were in shock but happy. He performed the ultrasound once again and said that in fact he was wrong…it was not three but four babies. Things got crazier: we were expecting quadruplets! We then went to see a perinatalogist due to the pregnancy risks. Another ultrasound was performed and what a surprise: it was not four babies, there were FIVE!!!”

The quintuplets, at just 26 weeks, were born shortly after 10 a.m. on Aug. 11 at Providence Memorial Hospital.

The girls were delivered first – Vanessa, Jackeline and Montserrat followed by the boys – Diego and Samuel.

Two of the girls are identical twins.

The family released a photo of Delgado holding the tiny foot of Diego. Other photos would not be made available publicly at this time because the preemie babies have tubes, etc.

El Paso maternal fetal medicine physician, Dr. Maria D. Velazquez delivered the five babies safely at Providence Memorial Hospital with the help of the labor and delivery team of nurses and technicians.

Providence officials said the newborns are doing well and are currently in Providence’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“We are thankful to this family for entrusting us with the birth of their precious babies,” said Dr. Velazquez. “Our team of experts at Providence came together to ensure the wellbeing of the babies and the mother which resulted in an extremely successful delivery.”

The mother is happy and relieved.

“We are overwhelmed with joy and extremely grateful that they are all healthy. I never imagined I would be a mother of quintuplets!” said the mother, Susana Giron. “I couldn’t have gone through it all without my husband’s support and the amazing team at Providence that provided such attentive care,” she continued.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Delgado-Giron family with the welcoming of their five babies. Visit http://www.gofundme.com/TexasQuintuplets to donate to help the family jumpstart this amazing journey.

“We are opening this GoFundMe page as per our families and friends’ requests,” Delgado wrote on the GoFundMe page. “I acknowledge that our babies are our financial responsibility and that we have the capacity to provide a good moral and spiritual education to make of them an integral part of society but here is our page as you asked us to do. We will use this forum to keep you informed on the development of the pregnancy and try to share with all of you a little bit of happiness and sunshine!!!”

It is believed this is the first set of quintuplets in El Paso to all survive birth.

The odds of conceiving quintuplets naturally are 1 in 60 million; with reproductive technology the chance is 6 in 10,000, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The number of quintuplets and other higher-order births in 2013 totaled just 66 nationwide, according to the latest figures from the National Center for Health Statistics.

According to Texas Department of State Health Services, from 2005-2012 there were no quadruplets or higher born in El Paso. In that same time period, there were 71 triplets born.