Bethesda, Md. ? A Marine who became the father of quintuplets just days after he was badly wounded in Iraq is recovering and will be united with his expanded family in a few weeks, his mother and doctor said Friday.

The five babies, meanwhile, are doing well and passed their critical first 72 hours with no serious difficulties.

Marine reservist Sgt. Joshua Horton was scheduled to undergo surgery Friday afternoon, the latest in a series of operations to repair damage from shrapnel from an Oct. 7 explosion south of Baghdad.

As Horton arrived Monday for treatment at the National Naval Medical Center, his wife was giving birth at a hospital in Naperville, Ill. Horton was heavily sedated at the time, and did not learn of the babies’ births until Wednesday.

He has since watched a video of the babies, said their mother, Taunacy Horton.

“He was deeply moved and reached out to touch the TV screen with his hand,” she said, fighting back tears. She said he hoped to be well enough to be at Edward Hospital when they can hold the infants for the first time. Doctors didn’t say how soon that might be.

The three girls and two boys already have their own personalities, their mother said, proudly displaying the plastic bands on her wrist for the five infants.

The babies, born at less than 2 pounds each, are in critical but stable condition. Their mother was released from the hospital Friday.

Taunacy Horton shows off the five wristbands she wears for her newborn quintuplets. The children's father, Marine reservist Sgt. Joshua Horton, is recovering at Bethesda Naval Hospital after surgery for injuries he suffered in Iraq. He underwent surgery this week as his wife was giving birth. Taunacy Horton spoke Friday at a news conference in Naperville, Ill., with her doctor, Julie Jensen.

Horton’s mother, Lauchlan Jones, said her son’s family had been blessed “five times over.” She hoped Horton could be discharged within two to three weeks so he could see his new babies, his wife and their two older children.

Horton’s doctor, Navy Cmdr. Phil Perdue, said the Marine would undergo more surgery, but his chances for a full recovery were good. He was wounded in the torso and right leg.

The Hortons met in 1995 at the Navy hospital when Taunacy was a corpsman at the facility and Joshua was an active-duty Marine posted in the Washington area.

Joshua Horton eventually left the military and became a police officer in Aurora, Ill.

He joined the Marine reserves after the Sept. 11 attacks and was shipped to Iraq last month.