CREVE COEUR, Mo. -- Six babies were born Friday to an Illinois couple in a suburban St. Louis hospital, officials said.

The children are believed to be the first sextuplets born in Missouri, St. John's Mercy Medical Center announced in a statement citing information from the Missouri Center for Health Information, Management and Evaluation.

The three boys and three girls were in critical condition; the hospital said that had been anticipated because the children were born 10 weeks early.

Parents Ron and Tina Otten of Granite City, Ill., had the first child, a boy, at 2:44 p.m. The children's weights varied from 1 pound, 13 ounces to 2 pounds, 15 ounces.

St. John's said Tina Otten had been hospitalized since Feb. 13. The Ottens have two other children, Hannah, 4, and Abigail, 2.