Mom Thinks She’s Having Twins: Then Doctor Spots Something Incredible

Lauren Perkins has always dreamed of becoming a mom. After spending a difficult year trying and failing to fall pregnant, the idea of fertility treatment didn’t seem so scary anymore. She and her husband David decided to take a vacation to Nicaragua to consider their next step. The couple, along with some friends, did exactly that.

While there, Lauren talked openly about their struggles to conceive. One of their friends, a priest, replied calmly, “Someone up there has big plans for you. I don’t know what, but it will be big.” At the time, it sounded strange, but Lauren would soon realize the words really carried some weight.

After the Nicaragua trip, Lauren returned home to Texas. She didn’t think much about what the priest had said during the vacation. On the contrary, she and David had decided on one thing: they wanted to try out artificial insemination, the simplest method of assisted fertilization. Lauren was convinced that it wouldn’t work, that she was destined to be barren, but it did. Lauren finally fell pregnant.

In the first routine check, Lauren was told by nurses that her hCG levels were very high, indicating a strong possibility of having more than one child. Lauren and her husband were delighted at the idea; they might have twins or even triplets. They had struggled for so long to have a child that the idea of having more than one was too good to be true. Then the ultrasound came, and the doctor delivered the shocking news: “I count five in there.” Lauren thought this was impossible, but the doctor continued, “Wait a minute, I just found a sixth baby.”

The confused couple stared at the screen in complete shock. Six! Lauren and David were then faced with a difficult decision: either they could reduce the number of children or keep them all. The chances that all six babies would survive the pregnancy were low, as having six at the same time brings on a number of dangerous complications. After much deliberation, Lauren and David finally decided to give all six a fighting chance. Their doctors promised to do everything they could to ensure every baby was delivered safely. The hospital went through a mighty effort to avoid complications associated with the birth.

Monday morning, April 23, 2012, the day arrived. Lauren was in week 30 of her pregnancy. Children born before the 37th week are considered premature. A total of 35 people from the hospital gathered inside the delivery room as the birth got underway. The doctor needed the help of six nurses standing by to receive each baby as it came into the world – no easy task and certainly one rife with stress.

“I was nervous and excited all at once. It was starting to sink in that this is for real – I was going to have six babies,” Lauren said. It took a total of four minutes to deliver all six: Andrew, Benjamin, Carolyn, Leah, Allison, and Levi. All weighed between one and two pounds at birth. “I didn’t expect to see my babies until the next day, but each baby’s team rolled them by me one by one on their way up to the NICU, and I got to touch their little fingers.”

The children were not healthy enough to be with the parents in the first few days. At four days old, Allison was the first baby in a stable enough condition to be held. The first few weeks were crucial in the lives of the babies, and their parents were worried about complications that could potentially lead to disabilities or, in the worst case, death. Fortunately, all six recovered slowly but surely after many intense weeks of love and care from the staff in the neonatal facility.

The family has had an abundance of support from loved ones, which has helped them immeasurably when it comes to getting through the hardest and most difficult periods. Donations from others have also come in, both from family and complete strangers touched by the birth and Lauren’s story.

Recently, Andrew, Noah, Benjamin, Luke, Carolyn, Grace, Leah, Michelle, Allison, Cade, and Levi Thomas celebrated their sixth birthday. The family has adapted to a newer, more full-on way of life. “I call it semi-controlled chaos,” Lauren told today. “We had to get very scheduled, structured, and organized, especially in the first year.”

The boys, Andrew, Benjamin, and Levi, and the two girls, Allison and Carolyn, are perfectly healthy today. Leah, meanwhile, has had things a bit tougher as a result of her brain not being fully developed prior to birth. She will probably need to be cared for by her parents for a long time to come. That said, she has started school along with her siblings and always gives 100% and laughs all the time. “She is our sunshine,” Lauren says.

What an incredible story! What an incredible family! We wish the six children all the very best in the future and look forward to seeing how they’re doing in a few years. Share and like if you think their story is a heartwarming one.