Mom Welcomes Quintuplets Following High-Risk Pregnancy. They’re Still Hospitalized Nearly 2 Months Later: ‘One Day at a Time

A New York couple may need to upgrade their ride in a big way after welcoming quintuplets at a Buffalo hospital last December—instantly becoming a family of nine.

“It’s surreal,” Jessica Lottbrein told ABC affiliate WKBW about delivering five babies on Dec. 18 at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. “It’s so fun to watch them as individuals and then come together as all five.”

Jessica and her husband, John Lottbrein, were already parents of two when they pursued fertility treatments in hopes of having a third child, according to a hospital press release. But at their first fetal scan, they got a shocking surprise: they weren’t expecting one baby—they were expecting five.

“At first, I was scared,” Jessica said, according to the organization. “You hear it, you start panicking, asking, ‘Can my body do it?’ ”

Jessica, described as an “amazing mother,” works as a 911 dispatcher. When her colleagues learned she was facing a high-risk pregnancy, they organized a GoFundMe to help support the growing family.

Doctors at the hospital also made sure the couple understood the serious medical risks involved. Dawei David Wang, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at GCH Buffalo, explained that carrying quintuplets can bring a long list of complications.

“Pregnancies like this carry significantly increased risks, including preterm labor, hypertension, pre-eclampsia and diabetes,” he said. “There are also physical challenges from carrying five fetuses, including pressure on the cardiac and respiratory systems.”

Even with those risks, Jessica tried to keep life as normal as possible while waiting for the babies’ arrival—taking her girls trick-or-treating and even getting a Christmas tree, according to the hospital.

By Dec. 13, she was admitted to the Level IV NICU at GCH Buffalo as teams prepared for what would be a major coordinated delivery.

Jessica went into labor early, and her care team managed to slow things down for a few days. Then, the big moment arrived.

“It was like a well-oiled machine,” Dr. Kavya Rao, a neonatologist at the hospital, told WKBW. “We had everyone that needed to be there from the second they were born, from the time they were stabilized, so each baby had about five team members.”

In the early morning hours of Dec. 18, the five babies—Holly, Mason, Stefan, Connor and Layla—were born, each weighing about 2 lbs., according to the outlet.

Since delivery, the babies have steadily gained strength—growing in size, transitioning off oxygen, and learning to bottle-feed independently, according to the hospital.

In an update on the donation page late last month, Jessica wrote that her son Mason had been sick with necrotizing enterocolitis, a potentially dangerous gastrointestinal condition, and needed to be intubated. On Friday, Feb. 6, she said he was improving.

“Mason is doing good,” Jessica says. “He has had some minor setbacks, and they needed to up his oxygen support, but overall, he is a fighter and gets a little bit stronger every day.”

She added that Stefan has faced challenges too and has been treated preemptively for an infection while doctors wait on lab results. Still, she said he appears to be moving in the right direction. Connor, she noted, is doing well.

As for the girls, she said there has been “talk of Holly and Layla coming home as early as next week, but nothing is guaranteed.”

“We are just taking everything one day at a time,” she added, explaining that she expects the boys may need to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.

For other women going through high-risk pregnancies, Jessica offered encouragement.

“Keep your head up,” she said, according to the hospital. “Remain strong, mama. It’s hard, but it’ll be worth it.”