After trying to conceive for 17 years, Nigerian couple welcome sextuplets, 3 boys, 3 girls in US (PHOTOS)

A couple who tried to conceive for 17 years got everything they wished for and more when they welcomed sextuplets into the world at VCU Medical Center in Virginia.

Nigerian native Ajibola Taiwo gave birth to three boys and three girls in ranging from just one pound, 10 ounces, to two pounds, 15 ounces via cesarean section on May 11.

Taiwo and her husband Adeboye Taiwo were overjoyed when they went to their first ultrasound in November and heard four heartbeats - only to discover they were expecting two more in January.

The Taiwos were thrilled to learn they were expecting after nearly two decades of trying to become parents.

But the high-risk birth required a team of 40 people, who practiced drills and resuscitation exercises in advance, according to Susan Lanni, the medical director of labor and delivery at the hospital.

Lanni said: 'A typical labor and delivery shift includes one, perhaps two premature births, usually with time in between. We had to coordinate with our colleagues in the NICU for six premature babies to be delivered simultaneously.’

Ajibola was discharged from the hospital last week, while the six newborns continue to thrive in the intensive care unit.

Both Ajibola and Adeboye were pictured holding the babies to their chests to reap the benefits of skin-to-skin contact.

'I hope for the smallest of my six children to grow up and say "I was so small, and look at me now,"' said Ajibola.

In 2015, only 24 out of nearly 4 million live births in the US were quintuplets or other higher order births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The Taiwo sextuplets were the first delivered at VCU Medical Center. 

The last set of sextuplets were thought to be born in Trinidad in March 2013, with only three of the six babies surviving.

AP