Jess Hardiman
A woman truly got thrown into motherhood head-first when she welcomed quintuplets after years of infertility, saying it feels ‘amazing’ to have them all home.
Stephanie Freels, 27, found out she was pregnant in December last year, but it wasn't until after the new year that she and husband Graham learnt there wasn’t just one bun in the oven.
The couple had struggled with fertility problems for around five years, eventually finding success after undergoing an ovulation induction and several rounds of intrauterine insemination – also known as IUI.
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The couple had been living with Stephanie’s parents at the time, but decided it was time to move out after the happy news.
"At the beginning of December, we told her parents that we were moving out and we had a lease signed at a small apartment," Graham told Good Morning America.
Explaining they had to quickly cancel the lease, he went on: “I called up the landlord and said, ‘I think we’re about to have a lot of kids and I don’t think that apartment is going to work for us anymore.’”
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The quintuplets arrived weighing around 2lbs each on 4 June after being delivered via emergency cesarean section.
The babies – four girls named Adelyn, Eliana, Linnea and Harper, and a boy named Fisher - spent several weeks in the neo-natal intensive care unit, but had a ‘pretty uncomplicated course’ considering they were born so early, according to Andrea Hassler, nursing director of women and infant services at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital.
"It was upwards of 20 people in the delivery room because each baby has its own team of nurses, respiratory therapists and physicians to help transition them after birth," Hassler said.
"And then Stephanie had her own team on the obstetrical side as well to ensure that she was safe during the delivery as well."
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She added: "As expected, they did need some respiratory support in the beginning.
"And then it was really a focus on being able to have those babies grow outside of mom's womb up into the healthy babies that you see today."
Stephanie and Graham were able to bring their five children back to their Washington state home over the weekend.
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"It's amazing having them at home," Stephanie added.
"And it's so nice not having them go back and forth to the NICU."