Vegas mom gives birth to quintuplets in Arizona

LAS VEGAS  — A Las Vegas family of six nearly doubled in size in less than five minutes after ushering in a set of quintuplets.

Evonne Derrico, 33, her two newborn boys and three baby girls were recovering Wednesday at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz.

"We are all doing great," father Deon Derrico told the Las Vegas Sun. "Excited is an understatement."

The babies were born Friday morning, all delivered between 11:17 and 11:21.

In keeping with family tradition, the babies' names all start with the letter "D." Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician and Daiten each weigh less than 3 pounds and were being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit.

They're joining an already-full house that included the Derricos' 7-year-old daughter, a 3-year-old son and 1-year-old twin boys. The family of 11 will have to make some adjustments.

"We have a vehicle for the family right now, but we don't have a vehicle for the five others," said Deon Derrico, who works as a field property manager. "There's just so much to figure out."

The couple, who said they conceived the babies without fertility drugs, initially thought they would be having quadruplets and later discovered a fifth baby in the womb. At 22 weeks of pregnancy, the family moved to suburban Phoenix for care from Dr. John Elliott, a perinatologist and multiple-birth specialist.

Evonne Derrico carried the babies for 32 weeks and two days, a month longer than the national average for quintuplets.

The new mother didn't know the babies' genders prior to birth, hospital officials said, and she announced "boy" or "girl" as each baby was presented to her in the delivery room.

The babies are expected to remain hospitalized for several weeks, but the family plans to return to Las Vegas after they are discharged.

"This has humbled me," Deon Derrico told the Sun. "I feel very honored that God chose us."