Couple who welcomed quintuplets last year share a surprising announcement
Haylee Ladner, a Mississippi mom of quintuplets, was not overly concerned when she missed her period last month.
"We weren't trying, and I was on birth control," Ladner tells TODAY.com. Ladner notes that she also has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can cause irregular menstrual cycles.
But for peace of mind, she decided to take a pregnancy test. It couldn't hurt. Ladner says in December, three of the quints were hospitalized with pneumonia and it's possible that in the "chaos" she forgot to take her birth control medication.
"I was sure it would be negative," Ladner says.
It was positive.
Ladner and her husband, Shawn, who welcomed quintuplets in Feb. 2023, will welcome their 6th child in July. The baby girl will join sisters Adalyn, Everleigh, Malley, and Magnolia, and brother Jake. Adalyn, Everleigh, Malley and Magnolia are identical quadruplets.
Ladner says she initially brushed off her pregnancy symptoms.
“For one thing, I was really, really tired, but I assumed it was just because I have five kids! Of course I’m tired,” she says. "So I just kind of chalked it up to that."
When Ladner shared her pregnancy news with Shawn, she says he started putting his jacket on and walking to the door.
“I was like, ‘Where are you going?’ And he says, ‘I’m going to get more tests!’” Ladner recalls with a laugh. “Well, of course those were positive, too.”
Both Ladner and Shawn breathed a sigh of relief at the first ultrasound when just one heartbeat appeared on the screen.
“Our little girl,” Ladner says.
The Ladner children will be roughly 17 months apart in age. Baby No. 6 will complete the family, Ladner says.
“We thought we were completely done, but we were blessed with this sweet surprise,” Ladner explains. “This will be our last baby… We plan to take extra precautions.”
Though Ladner was initially nervous when she learned she was pregnant again, that feeling has been replaced by excitement.
“It was scary at first, because they’re going to be so close together in age, but if I can handle 5, I can handle 6!” she says.
Meanwhile, Ladner says the quintuplets, who just celebrated their first birthday, are thriving. Jake — the only boy in the bunch — is going to take his first steps "any day now" according to his mom.
"He's ready to go," Ladner says. "The girls are crawling and we're working on getting them to sit up independently. And all of them can say Mama and Dada."
Ladner says the quints share an unbreakable bond.
"Watching them interact together is just the best," she says. "They're constantly laughing and smiling at each other. And we just sit there wondering what it is that they're talking about."
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
