One princess Raisa - and her four princes.

Before going on maternity leave, Anastasia Merkulova, worked on the world’s longest railway, the Trans Siberian, and now she has a giant family all in one go.

One princess Raisa - and her four princes.

For the hero mama and her husband Alexander the quints were not entirely expected - because at first medics had detected three children, and later at 16 weeks, a fourth.

And they were told to expect four boys.

The fifth was a surprise on the day they were born by Caesarian in Vladivostok on 22 August 2017.

The fifth was a surprise on the day they were born by Caesarian in Vladivostok on 22 August 2017.

‘Matvey and Ignat are calm, sweet and affectionate,’ she said, explaining the different personalities of the children.

‘They like hugging, to be cuddled and kissed.

‘Savelyi, on the contrary, doesn't like cuddling much.

‘It is important that we play with him.

‘Maxim is very emotional, he's constantly unhappy about something.

‘Whenever he doesn't like something, he screams so loud that probably neighbours can hear.

‘Raisa is a smart girl, she can play alone for a long time.

‘She loves her daddy a lot, he is the world to her.'

Father Alexander with kids.

But it might have been different.

During her pregnancy, doctors recommended - in blunt terms - that she should abort at least one of the babies.

‘There was only one doctor who was supporting me,’ she said.

'The rest were trying to scare me and saying that the children 'might be born ugly' and that I should have used my brain.

When they realised there were four not three they offered to ‘remove’ one of the children, saying a multiple pregnancy was a threat to the children and the mother.

'Every time when I went to a different hospital they were calling me ‘crazy’ and saying: 'What are you thinking about, why do you need this?’

'One of the doctors later told me that if they knew there were five children, they wouldn't have let me give birth at 7 months (as I did).

‘They would have done a C-section sooner.

'But each day in the mama is good for the kids.'

When they were born, the smallest was 1.340 kilograms.

All were under 2kg.

Alexander and Anastasia Merkulov met at work - on the Trans Siberian railway.

‘The doctor who performed the surgery brought me round saying: ‘Go on, wake up, wake up, there are five babies waiting for you.’

'What do you mean five?’ I told her. 'I was carrying four'.

‘So what then, aren't you taking the fifth one too?’ she said teasingly.

‘No, no ,no’, I answered 'Of course we are taken them all, we've been waiting for them, we love them all.’

The doctor told her that two of the five were identical.

'The delivery was very hard,' she said.

‘I lost a lot of blood and spent four days in intensive care.

'The day after I gave birth I was put in a wheelchair and taken to the kids.

'I was crying because I was so happy to see my sons and daughter.

'Then I was bringing them milk in 20-ml syringes and it felt like it was elixir of life not just milk.

'The more children, the better.

'There was no shock that it was five of them, only joy.

'I remember myself walking around and crying with happiness.’

'Every trip, walk, bathing, meal and many other things are like a battle march for paratroopers - but it only makes us stronger.’

Once home she had help from her mother-in-law but even so it was a major operation.

'Every trip, walk, bathing, meal and many other things are like a battle march for paratroopers - but it only makes us stronger.’

To keep warm that first winter she had to light the fire in their house and keep it burning.

Sometimes rather than go out she would let the stove die down, open the windows, letting in the fresh air.

‘I dressed the children, opening the window and this way we 'walked' for three hours.

'Obviously, the house would get cold in that time, so I'd close the windows and fire up the stove again.

'And it was like that every day.’