Unusual tale of a couple who fought for a child for many years and who, after the birth of s twins in the 22nd week of pregnancy, had two daughters, followed by no more than five!
Beginning a family was difficult for Army and Chad Kempel when they decided to do so. Amy underwent IVF after two years of abortive attempts to conceive. The procedure was successful, and she became expectant with twin boys. Unfortunately, the pregnancy concluded at 22 weeks with a premature birth. Marshall and Spencer were delivered alive but were not sufficiently developed to survive.
The heartbroken parents did not abandon their desire for children and tried again, having Savannah and Avery two years later. But anyone who has experienced a child's s or ss during labor or delivery knows that pregnancy is no longer the same.
"After the births of Marshall and Spencer, and prior to the birth of our eldest daughter Savannah, my maternity experiences changed. When we attempted to conceive again, I was anxious every day. Will I bathe the infant today? Will it be delivered too soon? Amy stated, "I did not appreciate pregnancy and the entire process of expecting a child, but as Savannah and Avery grew older, it was time to determine whether or not to try for a third child.
Amy was inclined to remain with her two children, whereas Chad desired a third child. "Because I am a stay-at-home mother, I spent a lot of time alone with my older daughter, and when we had our second child, I was in the minority during the day. I no longer spent as much time with her, so I felt guilty. I felt despondent because being a mother with little leisure is difficult. And with all the endeavors to conceive and have children, it was acceptable for me to have two," she added.
But the couple decided to have a third child, and they got the biggest surprise that no one could even dream of. Amy got pregnant with five babies!
“We immediately thought her body would carry out a pregnancy of five, if she couldn’t bring out two by the term… We were tᴇʀʀɪꜰɪᴇᴅ too,” Chad said.
They found the best doctors to help Amy keep her pregnancy as long as possible. “When we were thinking about the end goal, we were prepared for the reality that we might not bring home all the babies,” Amy said.
Fortunately, Amy gave birth to five babies at 27 weeks, and the babies were on ɴᴇᴏɴᴀtᴏʟᴏɢʏ for 63 days at the time.
The parents couldn’t believe it at first, but then they saw the babies progressing and realized they were going to bring home five healthy babies: Lincoln, Noelle, Grayson, Preston, and Gabriella.
The family of nine has moved from California to Idaho, and the mother says they are learning day by day how to be the parents of five children of the same age plus two older daughters. They don’t have much time for themselves, and taking care of a large family is financially very demanding.
What does a day at their house look like? The most important thing is routine. Amy and Chad made a sleep and feeding schedule for the fives. If one baby started crying at night, Amy says they waited a moment for two more to wake up, and then they went to feed them, because if they started feeding one baby, they would literally be awake all night feeding the kids.
The couple has the help of a nanny when she goes to marital therapy, but when Chad is at work, Amy takes care of the babies herself.
“They wake up, they eat, I change their diapers, we play, and then they eat again, and so on all day. Since there are five of them, everything takes a long time. I don’t have time for anything else in between,” Mom says.
Parents have admitted that they feel guilty for not devoting the same amount of time to each baby as they do to older daughters. “My favorite thing is to lie on the floor with them and let them crawl around me. I love it,” says Dad Chad. The big sisters are not big enough to help yet, but they are very proud of their younger brothers and sisters. Savannah tells everyone they have fives at home.
“I can’t wait for family vacations, going to the pool, Christmas mornings when they’ll understand what Christmas is and when we dress them for church. I think this is great, like we live in a fairy tale. I love it all,” Chad added.
