Derricos Divine 9

Our family doubled in five minutes!

noreply@blogger.com (Deon and Evonne Derrico) — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 20:04:00 +0000

DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Evonne and Deon Derrico: parents of quints

A family of six nearly doubled in size in less than five minutes, after ushering in a set of quintuplets.

Evonne and Deon Derrico from Las Vegas, initially thought they would be having quadruplets but later discovered a fifth baby in the womb. After doing all they could to prepare, they welcomed three girls and two boys last fall at the Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona.

"We are all doing great," Mr Derrico told the Las Vegas Sun today "Excited is an understatement."

Mrs Derrico, 33, carried the babies for 32 weeks and two days, a month longer than the national average for quintuplets. They were born on September 6, 2013. Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician and Daiten each weigh less than three pounds and were being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit. (In keeping with family tradition, the babies' names all start with the letter 'D.')

They're joining an already-full house that includes the Derrico's seven-year-old daughter, Darian, a three-year-old son, Derrick, and two-year-old twin boys, Dallas and Denver.

The family of 11 will have to make some adjustments.

"We have a vehicle for the family right now, but we don't have a vehicle for the five others," said Mr Derrico, who works as a property manager. "There's just so much to figure out."

The quints at birth

At 22 weeks of pregnancy, after they had been told to expect quintuplets, the family moved to suburban Phoenix for care from Dr. John Elliott, a perinatologist and multiple-birth specialist. The Derricos conceived the babies without fertility drugs. The Derrico quintuplets were the fifth set of out-of-state quints delivered at Banner Desert Hospital in the past year.

The new mother didn't know the babies' genders prior to birth, hospital officials said, and she announced 'boy' or 'girl' as each baby was presented to her in the delivery room. The babies are expected to remain hospitalized for several weeks, but the family plans to return to Las Vegas after they are discharged.

"This has humbled me," Mr Derrico told the Las Vegas Sun. "I feel very honored that God chose us."

Births of quintuplets bless and humble Las Vegas family

noreply@blogger.com (Deon and Evonne Derrico) — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 20:04:00 +0000

Daddy Deon Derrico at press conference

By Jackie Valley
Las Vegas Sun

The Derrico family, of North Las Vegas, welcomed quintuplets last fall. Evonne Derrico, 33, gave birth to three girls and two boys at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz. “We are all doing great,” the proud father said. “Excited is an understatement.”

However, Deon Derrico, the quintuplets’ father and husband of the babies’ mother, Evonne Derrico, has a lot of work to do starting now.
“We have a vehicle for the family right now, but we don't have a vehicle for the five others,” said Deon Derrico, who works as a field property manager. “There’s just so much to figure out.”

The Derricos are from Las Vegas but temporarily relocated to Arizona while awaiting the birth of their quintuplets. After Evonne Derrico’s pregnancy of 32 weeks and two days, Dr. John Elliott, a perinatologist and multiple-birth specialist, delivered the babies. Their birth order:

• Deniko, a boy, born at 11:17 a.m.
• Dariz, a boy, born at 11:18 a.m.
• Deonee, a girl, born at 11:19 a.m.
• Daician, a girl, born at 11:20 a.m.
• Daiten, a girl, born at 11:21 a.m.

The quints — who ranged in weight from 1 pound, 14 ounces to 2 pounds, 15 ounces — are being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at Cardon Children’s Medical Center.

Evonne Derrico didn't know the babies’ genders prior to birth, so she announced “boy” or “girl” as doctors presented the babies to her in the delivery room, hospital officials said.
Deon Derrico said he and his wife conceived the quintuplets naturally — without any fertility drugs. However, multiples run in his family, Deon Derrico said. The couple already has year-old twin boys, Dallas and Denver, in addition to a 7-year-old daughter, Darian, and 3-year-old son, Derrick.

At first, in March, doctors informed the Derricos they were expecting quadruplets, but during a follow-up appointment two days later, they realized there was a fifth baby.
Words cannot begin to describe the couple’s emotions upon hearing that news, Deon Derrico said. “This has humbled me,” he said. “I feel very honored that God chose us.”

As Deon Derrico begins his search for a larger vehicle to accommodate 11, he knows this: He and his wife won’t be turning down any offers to help from family and friends.

Vegas family expands from 4 to 9 kids

noreply@blogger.com (Deon and Evonne Derrico) — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 19:24:00 +0000

The five new additions!

The Derrico team got a whole lot bigger last fall as the Vegas family added three girls and two boys – all under 3 pounds and all healthy – bringing the Derrico kid roster to 9, what their parents call "Derricos Divine 9.".

By Terry Tang, Associated Press

A Las Vegas mother is resting after delivering a healthy set of quintuplets in a suburban Phoenix hospital, bringing five new additions to her family's already full house. The babies, born September 6th, join the Derrico's 7-year-old daughter, Darian, 3-year-old son, Derrick, and 1-year-old twin boys, Dallas and Denver.

Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician, and Daiten were being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit. Each infant weighed less than 3 pounds, but their father, Deon Derrico (duh-REE'-koh), said that all are healthy. For he and his wife "to be blessed with this type of gift is just magnificent," he said.
The infants were delivered at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, under the supervision of Dr. John Elliott, who specializes in multiple births.

Daddy Deon Derrico

Deon Derrico said the prospect of caring for such a large family occasionally causes him anxiety, but he says he's ready. "To go from four to nine, that's a level of preparation that requires you be a billionaire," Deon Derrico said. "But whatever has to be done to take care of my children, I'm going to do it." Derrico, 42, who works as a property manager for a real estate company, said friends have already volunteered to help babysit.

The family lives in a 2,900-square-foot, five-bedroom home in North Las Vegas. They plan to turn their home-theater room into a nursery. Deon Derrico said he needs to figure out what kind of vehicle the family should have; their minivan won't be big enough to move everyone around at once.

The couple initially thought they would be having quadruplets, but found a fifth baby in the womb on a later exam. Deon Derrico said the couple conceived without fertility drugs. But they have gone through four miscarriages, and Evonne Derrico had been prescribed hormones to help maintain the pregnancy to term, Deon Derrico said.

"God is good," he said. "He gave us the divine nine."

Family almost doubles with birth of quintuplets

noreply@blogger.com (Deon and Evonne Derrico) — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 19:23:00 +0000

Yes! Mommie's having five more!

Evonne and Deon Derrico thought they were having twins.

The Las Vegas-based couple has a history with sets of multiples (their family has a long lineage of twins and triplets) so the news wasn't that surprising. They already have a set of their own: 1-year-old twin boys, who are brothers to their 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.

“We always wanted a big family, so when we were told we were having identical twin girls, we were thrilled,” remembers Deon. The thought of adding two more kids to their family of six was something they felt they could handle.

But more than two? That didn't even cross their minds.

“We went in for a routine ultrasound in March 2013,” says Deon. The doctor broke the news to Evonne: She was carrying four babies. But two days later, there was another surprise.

Evonne says, “We were at a follow-up ultrasound and the doctor calmly told us that they found another baby, and now there were five. I was in a daze and in complete disbelief, I needed someone to pick my jaw up from the floor!"

Deon recalls, "When we were told there was a fifth, I told the doctor to turn her upside down and inside out to make sure there weren't any others!”

For Evonne the pregnancy was a natural one, no fertility drugs, and for the next six months, Evonne and Deon made it their goal to carry the quintuplets as close to full term as possible. Evonne had no complications. She even describes her pregnancy as fairly easy despite the usual morning sickness.

Almost immediately after finding out she was carrying quintuplets, Evonne was moved to Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz., to wait out the rest of her pregnancy on bed rest under the supervision of a multiple birth specialist.

Finally, after 32 weeks gestation, the Derricos welcomed their five new babies into the world on Sept. 6 2013: two boys and three girls, named Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician and Daiten.

(Names starting with a "D" are a tradition from Deon's side of the family.)

The babies weighed between 1 pound, 14 ounces; and 2 pounds, 15 ounces when they were born.

“Our babies were healthy and the doctor said that we proved him wrong time and time again. This whole experience has been one miracle after another,” says Deon.

The babies were transported back to Las Vegas on a medically staffed private plane provided by their insurance company. They'll remain in a nearby neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) under observation for another month before they’re brought home for good.

Babies loaded on jet

Deon is juggling his day job as a property manager with his at-home duties. “Luckily we have a couple spare bedrooms for family to come stay with us and help, but we'll need to get a larger car to transport our nine kids to and from doctor’s appointments and such.”

“I've been given this gift and ability to have babies and this big family,” added Evonne. “It’s really unspeakable. It’s making me want to be a better person and a better mom all the way around.”

“Just one birth is absolutely amazing, but to go through five is definitely divine,” says proud father Deon Derrico of his family’s newest additions, (two boys and three girls) who will soon join their big sister and three older brothers, two of which are twins.

Thanks to Morgan Brasfield TODAY contributor

Family of 6 welcomes quintuplets (Today Show)

noreply@blogger.com (Deon and Evonne Derrico) — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 10:30:00 +0000

Evonne and Deon Derrico had always wanted a big family – and they got one a lot sooner than anyone could have expected.

In September 2013, Evonne delivered quintuplets to add to their brood of four. Perhaps even more amazing than the arrival of five healthy babies was the fact that it was all natural—no fertility drugs involved.

“We did not expect this,” Deon Derrico told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie.
As he spoke from the couple’s home in Nevada, three of the newborns rocked peacefully in their pods. The other two babies will be coming home over the next two weeks.

To watch the video, click on this link.

“Multiples run very high in the family,” Derrico said. “My mother miscarried triplets just prior to myself. So we wouldn't have been shocked to have twins again. But we could never have expected this.”

In fact, quintuplets conceived naturally, are extraordinarily rare, said Dr. John Elliott, an obstetrician at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz., who specializes in high risk pregnancies. “The chance of this occurring to this family was about one in a couple million,” Elliott said.

Even though they already had twins, the Derricos really thought they would just be building their family one, maybe two, babies at a time. “We were trying for one more,” Evonne Derrico said. “You know, you don’t try for two or three or four at a time.”

Not long after Evonne became pregnant, doctors delivered the news: she was carrying quadruplets. But two days later the Derricos got an even bigger surprise when their doctor revealed that there another baby coming. “She said it so nonchalantly,” Evonne Derrico said. “Oh yeah, you're doing so good. By the way there’s a fifth baby there.”

Mom and Dad and the boys on Today Show (NBC)

Before the quintuplets, the Derricos already had 1-year-old twin boys, Dallas and Denver, who just turned 2, a 3-year-old son, Derrick, and a 7-year-old daughter, Darian.

With nine children now, Evonne’s biggest concern is making sure they all get the attention they deserve. “As a mother with nine children, you often think, ‘Do I have enough love for all of them,’” she said. “I think that’s been my number one priority to make sure ... I don't want anyone to feel neglected or unloved or mistreated.”

Things have gone surprisingly well as the family adjusted to having doubled in size overnight. “We're all sleeping,” Evonne Derrico told Guthrie. “We’re all in the room, one big happy family. We’re on a schedule. We have to be on a schedule. It starts right now. So everything is going good. We are all getting enough sleep and it’s working out amazingly well.”

How do the other kids feel about the new additions? “It feels good that I have my siblings here with me,” 7-year-old Darian said when asked by Guthrie what she thought about it all.
“That’s it,” Darian said as her mom and Guthrie laughed. “That’s all I got.”

How Were The Derrico Quintuplets Formed?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:39:00 +0000

When quintuplets are not all the same gender, they could be fraternal quintuplets or a mixture of identical and fraternal.
Fraternal quintuplets are conceived when five separate eggs are released by the mother and each egg is fertilized by a different sperm. But having quintuplets this way naturally is extremely rare.

Instead, quintuplets of different genders could be a mixture of fraternals and identicals.

In identical twins or triplets, the mother releases an egg which is fertilized by one sperm before splitting to form identical twins or identical triplets.

This means that the Derrico quintuplets could have been formed in a number of ways. All could be from five separate eggs (fraternal) or from as few as two eggs (a set of twins and a set of triplets), three eggs (two sets of twins and another egg), three eggs with a different combination (one set of twins and two other eggs), four eggs (one set of twins and three other eggs) or any similar combination.

Las Vegas parents settle into life with 9 children

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 18:21:00 +0000

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -Las Vegas parents settle into life with 9 children
Written by Jon Castagnino

If you think the holidays around your house can get a little out of control, the Derrico family may put things in perspective for you.

Their Las Vegas residence holds a family of 11, two parents and nine children, featuring a set of three-month-old quintuplets.

It's nothing short of Christmas chaos between all the bottles, books, cribs and diapers, but parents Deon and Evonne Derrico somehow pull it off.

"When I write my book it's going to be titled, 'Do Not Try This At Home'," Evonne Derrico said.

"Personal time, we have given that up," Deon Derrico said.

To watch the video, click on this link.

The children and their ages are as follows: daughter Darian (7), son Derrick (2), twin sons Denver and Dallas (2); quintuplets (3 months old) son Deniko, son Dariz, daughter Deonee, daughter Daician and daughter Daitin.

"The best part is when I get a break," said the oldest, Darian.

The quints are fed every three hours and changed every two hours.

A massive stack thousands of diapers in the corner of their nursery will disappear in about two months.

"We both said we wanted a large family, but never anticipating this overnight thing," Deon Derrico said.

They were hoping to only add a fifth child, but when an ultrasound revealed the naturally-conceived quintuplets, Deon Derrico passed out.

"That was sort of like a natural response," he said.

The quints were born Sept. 6 2013 without any major health issues, but the babies head to doctor appointments about every two weeks.

A regimented system keeps order around the home, but the holidays, specifically a trip to Thanksgiving dinner, have presented challenges.

"We double-changed three babies, two poopies, one spit-up. We finally got all the kids in the car, my wife and I look at each other and we didn't have our shoes on. We forgot our shoes," said Deon Derrico.

FOX5 was told everyone in the house is on the nice list this year.

"Santa's gotta come fully loaded," said Evonne Derrico.

Of course they're also wondering if Santa will have enough gifts to go around. Television shows such as The View and The Steve Harvey Show have donated items to the family.

The Derricos will appear on the Today show next week.

For the time being, their biggest expense is medical bills, which total nearly $1,000 per month.

To learn more about the family you can check out their website.

40 bottles a day! Catching up with the Derrico quintuplets

noreply@blogger.com (Deon and Evonne Derrico) — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 20:21:00 +0000

By Rebecca Dube

Evonne and Deon Derrico always wanted a big family. They got their wish, and then some, when Evonne gave birth to quintuplets last fall (naturally conceived!).

TODAY caught up with little Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician and Daiten, who are all out of the hospital and settled in to their Las Vegas home. They've gotten a warm welcome from the Derricos' other children, 8-year-old Darian, 3-year-old Derrick and 2-year-old twins Dallas and Denver. (Names starting with a "D" are a tradition from Deon's side of the family.)

The quintuplets in the hospital
after their Sept. 6 birth.
Top left, Doenee, Deniko,
bottom left, Daiten, Dariz,
middle, Daician

I won't even lie, it is hard!" Evonne told TODAY. "I tell people, do not try this at home." Evonne says they feed the babies 40 bottles a day, and change more than 100 diapers.

"You change 'em, you finish and go to the next one, and they realize the one you just changed did it all over again."

The family seems to have it together, but they have their crazy moments — like Thanksgiving, when after packing everything up the night before and getting everyone else ready to go, Evonne and Deon both realized they forgot their shoes.

Oh well, that sort of thing happens when you've got little kids — especially five babies at once! Their only real worry, Deon told TODAY: "I don't want any of them to grow up thinking they didn't get enough love."

That doesn't seem to be a problem. Judging from the smiles, care and attention the Derrico children get from their parents, and each other, there's plenty of love to go around.

Video: Last fall, the Derrico family grew from four to nine children when quintuplets arrived. TODAY takes viewers inside their home to see how the family is adjusting to the new additions.

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