Several months after the birth of their five children, including four daughters named Adalyn, Everleigh, Malley, and Magnolia, as well as a son named Jake, Haylee and Shawn Ladner from Mississippi shared the first photos of their family.
On April 12, at the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower of Children’s of Mississippi Hospital, the patients and their families celebrated their first Easter together, all dressed in pastel-colored outfits. You can view the photos that were posted on April 12 here.
When asked about capturing the family portrait, Haylee Ladner, a middle school teacher, said, “It was challenging to hold back the tears. Simply put, it was an unforgettable experience for both of us.”
Seeing all of her children together in the crib for the first time melted the new mother’s heart. Shawn Ladner exclaimed, “Seeing them all together, it hit me that we now have five kids!” On February 16, the extraordinary event unfolded, with Adalyn being the first to arrive at 9:19 a.m., and Jake being the last at 9:23 a.m.
The tiniest among them was baby Malley, weighing in at just 1 pound and 11 ounces, while her brother Jake was the heaviest at 2 pounds and 5 ounces.
Haylee Ladner stressed the importance of allowing the babies to spend some time together in the crib before taking the photo. She shared, “They hadn’t been all together like that since they were inside of me. It had been a while.”
So, it was the first time all five of them had been in close proximity to each other in a significant amount of time. It was truly one of the most unforgettable moments in our lives and felt surreal at the time. All four of the girls originated from a single fertilized egg that was later divided into four separate embryos.
Dr. Rachael Morris explained that the chances of having identical quadruplets are approximately one in 15 million, while the occurrence of quintuplets takes place in approximately one in sixty million instances.