For one Texas mom, this holiday season is extra special.
Theresa Troia, 36, will celebrate Christmas with all five of her quintuplets at home after giving birth to them in June. The last quintuplet to be discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit came home in November, after spending five months hospitalized at HCA Healthcare’s Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare.
"Last Christmas, I was carrying them and just praying they would all make it here safely. Now, I get to celebrate with five healthy babies in my arms," the nurse consultant and new mom told ABC News via email. "Being a first-time mom, and to quintuplets, makes every holiday moment feel bigger. Every little thing means so much more."
Troia, 36, welcomed Kyla, Joseph, Jaxon, Viviana, and Isabella at 28 weeks and 1 day. In November, after about five months in the hospital, Viviana was discharged and joined her four siblings at home in El Paso, Texas.
"It feels incredible. I truly don't have words … like, my home and my heart are finally complete," Troia said. "Having all five here together after everything we went through in the [neonatal intensive care unit] is something I still wake up grateful for every day."
Quintuplet births are relatively rare. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates there were only about 148 quadruplet or higher-order births, including quintuplets, in the United States in 2023.
Troia previously told ABC News she did not undergo any fertility treatments.
What makes Troia's story even more interesting is that the 36-year-old is a quadruplet herself. She has three brothers, Joseph Troia, Matthew Troia and Thomas Troia.
Troia also said during her pregnancy, she and her care team learned that two of her quintuplets -- Isabella and Viviana -- were identical monochorionic-diamniotic or Mo-Di twins, meaning they shared a placenta but were in separate amniotic sacs.
Troia said she is planning to make the quintuplets' first Christmas a "magical" one and start new traditions with them like hanging stockings, leaving cookies and milk out on Christmas Eve and reading Christmas bedtime stories.
"Christmas Eve celebration was big for me growing up so I want to do the same," Troia explained.
"I really want our first Christmas to feel calm, cozy, and centered around us finally being together," she added. "This holiday is about slowing down, soaking them in, and appreciating how far we've come as a little family of six … it's about the five tiny miracles I get to hold in my arms."
