Rare, but healthy, quintuplets born in US

This undated photo provided by the University of Utah Hospital shows one of the quintuplets born over Memorial Day weekend to Salt Lake City couple Guillermina and Fernando Garcia at University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. Garcia’s five babies — three girls and two boys — weigh between 2 to 3 pounds each and are expected to have to stay at the hospital for another six weeks. Doctors predict they will grow up completely healthy. AP Photo/University of Utah Hospital

SALT LAKE CITY — A US couple originally from Mexico is in for five times the joy — and a daunting number of diaper changes — after welcoming quintuplets.

Officials at University of Utah Hospital say Guillermina Garcia gave birth to three girls and two boys Sunday. Doctors predict they will grow up completely healthy.

Fewer than 10 quintuplet sets are born each year in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted 37 babies who were born as part of a set of five or more in 2010.

Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Wilets says Esmeralda, Fatima, Fernando, Marissa and Jordan weigh less than 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms) each. Their mother was able to carry them to 32 weeks, about seven weeks shorter than a normal, single-birth pregnancy.