This Christmas will be extra special for one Kentucky family. Briana Driskell, a 30-year-old mother of quintuplets, almost lost her life when she underwent a c-section to deliver her babies at just 28 weeks. At birth, each baby weighed less than three pounds.
For two exhausting, defeating and emotional years the Driskell’s tried to get pregnant without success. After four round of unsuccessful fertility treatments and a five-month rest before they included hormone injections into their routine. After trying for three more months the couple caught a break; they were finally pregnant! There were more sʜᴏᴄᴋs to come as Briana found she was carrying not one, but five babies.
“My husband almost passed ᴏᴜᴛ. Both our moms were in the room and his mom went outside and puked twice,” she says. “My mom just couldn’t stop saying, ‘Five?’ Five?’ It was extremely shocking.”
Doctors suggested that the couple do selective reduction, as chances of all five of the babies surviving the pregnancy were slim. However, Briana and her husband Jordan refused and the babies were born on May 2 at just 28 weeks and 3 days, but not without some complications.
Though the babies were out in just four minutes, complications from the preeclampsia prevented Briana from meeting her children until the following day. “When I finally saw them, I was crying so hard I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “I still can’t believe I am finally a mom. It’s unreal.”
The Driskell babies were in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), all five were growing and had reached their 2-pound marks. Briana and Jordan were hoping all the quints would be discharged by their July 22 due date. “It’s funny,” said Briana, who came home on May 9, “I felt so bad during my entire pregnancy, this soreness from the C-section is nothing. I finally feel like a human again!”
Briana and Jordan Driskell certainly got more than they bargained for when Briana gave birth to five adorable babies in May. Now six months old, babies Zoey Hart, Asher Blaze, Dakota Faith, Gavin Lane, and Hollyn Grace Driskell have had a remarkable recovery. To celebrate their first Christmas, Briana and husband Jordan booked photographer Ashley Childress of Sweetlilpics for a special holiday photo Sʜᴏᴏᴛ.
“Over the years, I have gotten Christmas cards from friends and family who had kids and that was hard for me considering I always wanted to be a mom and was having so many troubles trying,” Briana said. “So, I’m finally a mom and that’s one thing I was looking forward to, finally being able to send out Christmas cards with my own kids on them.”
