Multiple pregnancies are tricky, says current Master of Dublin's Rotunda Hospital Sam Coulter-Smith.
“Generally speaking, triplets getting to 32 weeks is good, but quintuplets … They often wouldn’t survive, so to get such a successful delivery of quints is fantastic.”
“We were very lucky to get that far,” says Peter McKenna, who was Master of the Rotunda when the Cassidy quintuplets were born on August 16th, 2001. They weighed between 600g and 780g (1 lb 5 oz to 1 lb 11 oz).
“Every day makes a difference to the outcome at that stage, so I am really happy – and I am also really surprised because the chances of this pregnancy working out well were minimal.”
Ireland’s rare-as-hen’s-teeth quints have arrived up in Dublin from their Wexford home to celebrate with the medical staff who delivered them.
The fantastic five had three staff each, doctors and nurses. Their amazing mother, Veronica, had her own medical team.
The event is “a huge lift for the staff”, says Coulter-Smith. “We’re a stand-alone hospital, so we don’t often see our babies come back. It’s lovely to have them here and see them doing so well.”
And Conor, Amy, Cian, Rory and Dearbháil Cassidy are doing really well. They are 13 now and have started secondary school.
Their mother Veronica lists their birth order as though 13 years ago was only yesterday.
Dad Kevin, who is still beaming at the thought of it all, recalls that the naming process was a little more haphazard.
The couple had decided on names for the children, and he handed them to intensive care staff on hand-written labels. The staff then attached them to an incubator. Luckily, no boys were named Sue (or Amy or Dearbháil, for that matter).
The Cassidy quintuplets last visited the Rotunda when they were five. “We’re not really famous anymore,” says Amy, unaccustomed to the song and dance the press are making.
None of the quintuplets are identical. They have personalities to prove it.
Evoking the spirit of the Spice Girls, each of the quintuplets picks a moniker.
Rory chooses Sporty Quint. No one disagrees. Dearbháil says she is Quiet Quint, but not all her siblings are convinced. Cian also goes for Sporty Quint – and the healthy competition between him and Rory for the title makes it a sensible choice for both of them.
Amy is given the title Loud Quint. Shouting the rest down will merely prove their point, so Amy takes it for the team.
The rest say Conor is Bossy Quint, but Conor is not buying it. Authoritative Quint, Conor? Yep. He’ll stick on that one.
All the boys have their own rooms, they confirm, but the girls must share. “Sexist,” says Amy. They giggle.
With secondary school started, college looms in the far distance. Parents Veronica and Kevin have thought about it … but not too deeply. At the moment they are just enjoying having five effervescent children. They can’t put a price on that.
So what do these wonderful young people, who refused not to grow up, want to do?
Rory wants to be a writer, maybe a journalist. Good choice. Dearbháil likes history and horses. Amy just wants “to talk about One Direction”, say her siblings. We narrow her interest down to “a career in music”.
Cian fancies sports journalism. He likes horses too. Conor wants to be a teacher, but the horses rear their heads again. He loves them.
So what do they really think about their fellow quintuplets?
“We do all like each other…. Most of the time…. Not all the time… At least you’re never lonely… It’s better than being a single child…”
Goodness only knows who said what. Veronica and Kevin Cassidy are doing a great job just working that out.
The couple say they are just grateful to the medical team who delivered this mother-of-all tasks to them.
“They’re just normal kids – and that’s just the way we want it,” says Kevin.
