Casting for the Cure

A Texas couple has given birth to quintuplets at a Phoenix hospital nationally known for its successful multiple-birth deliveries. Three girls and two boys, who are expected to debut in Houston in August, were delivered last Thursday to 33-year-old mother Ellen Howell.

Doctors at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center delivered the five babies via elective caesarean section within three minutes of each other. Though they arrived nine weeks early, each weighed about two pounds and appear healthy.

However, the babies were immediately placed in the neonatal intensive care unit, where they are expected to remain for the next few months before heading home to Houston. They are the couple’s only children.

The boys’ names are Mitchell Thomas and Luke Harrison. The girls’ names are Sidney Alun, Ivy Elizabeth and Briellen Jeanette. Ellen Howell’s husband, Stephen is a technical sales representative and will return to work in Houston on Monday. The couple rented in suburban Phoenix until the babies are released.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, quintuplet births are rare. There were just 68 births in 2005 that involved five or more babies. It is the tenth set of quintuplets been born at the Phoenix hospital.