Note: we are republishing this story which originally made the news in December 2017.
An Alabama couple is celebrating the arrival of six tiny blessings after facing heartbreaking miscarriages and years of fertility treatments. Eric and Courtney Waldrop, already parents to three boys, officially became a family of eleven last week when Courtney gave birth to sextuplets—three boys and three girls.
Eric and Courtney Waldrop hugging each other, Photo Credit: God’s Divine Nine-Sweet Home Sextuplets/Facebook
“They’re oh so very little but absolutely perfect!!” Courtney shared in an emotional Facebook post. Just days later, she provided an update, saying, “Little did we know that a week ago today, the Lord would choose to bring our sweet little babies into the world. All six babies are doing well. They are all off the ventilator as of right now. They are such tiny miracles and fighters.”
The proud parents introduced their newborns—Blu, Layke, Tag, Rawlings, Rayne, and Rivers—through a series of photos. While the babies continue to grow stronger, Courtney has been focusing on her own recovery, sharing that the journey hasn’t been easy.
Ultrasound of sextuplets in the womb, Photo Credit: God’s Divine Nine-Sweet Home Sextuplets/Facebook
“Today has been very hard for me. My body is in complete surprise after growing six babies,” she wrote. “I have been very weak.” She added that her recovery has been a “slow go,” but she remains hopeful as she regains her strength.
The Waldrops first made headlines earlier this year when they discovered Courtney was pregnant with six babies. The news was both thrilling and overwhelming for the first-grade teacher.
“I was scared to death,” she said. “I’m a smaller-framed girl, and my first thoughts were on how I was going to successfully get six kids here without something happening to them or me. There was a lot of fear. We didn’t know what to do or think.”
Newborn sextuplet babies, Photo Credit: God’s Divine Nine-Sweet Home Sextuplets/Facebook
Eric and Courtney’s love story began when they were middle school sweethearts. After marrying in 2004, they started their family with their first son, Saylor, born in December 2008. Their twin boys, Wales and Bridge, followed in January 2012, thanks to fertility treatments after Courtney suffered multiple miscarriages.
Before conceiving the sextuplets, Courtney experienced yet another devastating loss.
“It was heartbreaking because I can get pregnant so easily, but I just can’t hold on to them,” she formerly shared.
Sextuplet babies celebrating their first birthday, Photo Credit: God’s Divine Nine-Sweet Home Sextuplets/Facebook
Despite the challenges, the couple held on to hope, trusting that their journey would lead them to where they were meant to be. Now, with six new additions to their family, Courtney is looking ahead to the joys and challenges of raising their miracle babies.
“I know each day will be filled with tears and happiness as we watch our babies grow,” she wrote.