Months after welcoming their five babies — daughters Adalyn, Everleigh, Malley and Magnolia, and son Jake — Mississippi couple Haylee and Shawn Ladner shared the first photos of their little ones. In the photos shared on April 12, the ǫᴜɪɴᴛᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs are in pastel outfits as they celebrated their first Eᴀsᴛᴇʀ together in ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ care at the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower at Children’s of Mississippi hospital.
Haylee Ladner, a middle school teacher, tells about taking the family photo: “It was really hard not to cry. It was just such a beautiful moment for us.” Seeing them all together for the first time in the crib, the new mom says, “Melted my heart,” with Shawn Ladner adding, “Seeing them all together, I was, we’ve really got five kids now!” The rare ǫᴜɪɴᴛᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʙᴏʀɴ on Feb. 16, with Adalyn arriving first at 9:19 a.m. and Jake last at 9:23 a.m. Baby Malley was the smallest one, weighing 1 pound, 11 ounces, while their brother Jake was the largest at 2 pounds, 5 ounces.
Haylee Ladner says having the babies spend time together in the crib for the photo “was so important.” She says: “They hadn’t been all together like that since they were inside of me. So that was the first time they all five had been right next to each other in a very long time. It was just so surreal, and it was literally such a special moment for us.” The four girls are identical ǫᴜᴀᴅʀᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs, meaning one fertilized egg divided four ways. The odds of having identical ǫᴜᴀᴅʀᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs are about one in 15 million, according to Dr. Rachael Morris. As for ǫᴜɪɴᴛᴜᴘʟᴇᴛs, Dr. Morris added that they occur in roughly one in 60 million ʙɪʀᴛʜs.
Haylee Lander also shared updates on her babies’ health, adding that her babies are all on bottles, alternating every other feed with a bottle or feeding tube. She also says that three babies are ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇʟʏ ᴏꜰꜰ ᴏꜰ ʀᴇsᴘɪʀᴀᴛᴏʀʏ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ and two “are really close to completely being off of ʀᴇsᴘɪʀᴀᴛᴏʀʏ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ.” As of now, the family doesn’t have the exact date when they will be ᴅɪsᴄʜᴀʀɢᴇᴅ, but believe they have “a few weeks” before they can all go home.
The mom of five says that she tells her babies apart by their bracelets and nail polish. She says: “We’ve got some bracelets and I also bought some nail polish I will (put on) their toenails. Would like to believe that I can tell them apart. I’m pretty good at it.”
Morris said in a news release: “Haylee’s ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ ᴡᴀs ǫᴜɪᴛᴇ ʀᴀʀᴇ.” Haylee Ladner calls the quints her “miracle babies”. I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to be a mother of even one 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦, so now that I am going to be a mother to five, it is the greatest blessing of my entire life. We wanted to share this story for two reasons: one, because we believe they are miracles given to us by Gᴏᴅ, and two, we wanted to do it to hopefully help other couples who have gone through ɪɴꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ, too, know that they have some hope out there in the world as well.”
Ladner carried her babies until 28 weeks ɢᴇsᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, which is common for higher-order multiples. She said the infants are “thriving” in the ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴜɴɪᴛ. Ladner said: “We’re looking forward to the day when they can come home. They are the greatest blessing of my entire life.”
