Fortune has smiled on a Nigerian couple after 17 years of trying to conceive.

United States -based Adeboye and Ajibola Taiwo have just been blessed with septuplets: three boys and three girls.

The children were born on May 11 at VCU Medical center in Richmond, Virginia.

They said they were actually expecting four after hearing four heartbeats when they went to their first ultrasound in November.

The story changed however in January during another ultrasound when they were told of two more.

Their thrill knew no bounds.

A team of 40 medical professionals was on hand to help deliver the babies through c-section.

The team was put through drills and resuscitation exercises ahead of the high-risk birth, according to Susan Lanni, the medical director of labor and delivery at the hospital.

“A typical labour and delivery shift includes one, perhaps two premature births, usually with time in between,” Lanni said.

“We had to coordinate with our colleagues in the NICU for six premature babies to be delivered simultaneously.”

The kids weighed between  0.49 kilogramme (1 pound 10 ounces) to 0.97 kilogram (2 pounds 15 ounces) at birth.

The sextuplets remain in the intensive care unit although their mother has been discharged.

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

“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