W
hen Dateline correspon-
dent and Today show con-
tributor Andrea Canning
and her husband, Marine
Lt. Col. Tony Bancroft, de-
cided to try for a sixth baby, they knew the preg-
nancy would be a different journey for them. “It
was so against the grain for us because we had five
natural pregnancies,” Canning, 46, says of turning
to in vitro fertilization. “But at this age the odds
are starting to go against you.” They were hoping
for a boy to join their five daughters—“I’ve always
wanted to experience having a son,”
Canning says—but agreed they would
choose the healthiest embryo to im-
plant regardless of sex. The round of
IVF resulted in two embryos. “When
the report came back and the boy was
a higher-quality embryo, we were like,
‘It’s meant to be,’ ” says Canning. On
June 18, 2019, she and Bancroft wel-
comed their son, George Anthony Ban-
croft III, whom they’ve nicknamed
Tripp. “He’s our little miracle,” Can-
ning says. “I’m in awe every time
I look at his face.”
The delivery wasn’t easy.
Canning hemorrhaged
when her placenta didn’t
detach postbirth, a com-
plication that’s more like-
ly in women who have
had several pregnancies.
Meanwhile, “Tripp wasn’tcrying when he first came out, and I kept saying, ‘Is
he okay?’ ” recalls Canning. “Everything was so
chaotic and it felt like forever, but then I heard him
cry, and that was the greatest feeling.”
After a short stay in the NICU because of a
minor shoulder injury, Tripp joined his sisters
Anna, 10, Charlotte, 9, Christina, 6, Georgia, 5, and
Elle, 4, at the family’s home in the New York City
suburbs. “They are all little mommies,”
Canning says. “They have been fighting
like crazy over who gets to hold him.
Every chance they get, they want to be
around him.” Fortunately Tripp is
“pretty calm,” according to his mom.
Canning is also enjoying watching Ban-
croft, 44, bond with his son. “Just the
way he looks at him is so special,” she
says. “He’s been waking up and feeding
him, and he’s just an awesome dad. I
think he sees a future golf partner!”
Canning, who was an only
child, loves her full house. “I
love the hustle and bustle of
a big family,” she says. “All
the little voices that fill the
house, the pitter-patter of
feet running around.
They’re my greatest ac-
complishment in this
world.” •...
After 5 Girls!
PEOPLE July 29, 2019 49When the girls (from left: Elle, Charlotte,
Anna, Georgia and Christina) first met Tripp,
“they were so happy and excited,” Canning
says. “It brought tears to my eyes.”‘After a
household
full of
pink, we’re
definitely
all-in on
the blue’
—ANDREA
CANNING“They’re the most
incredible sisters,”
says Canning.