Proud parents from Washington State welcomed their five quintuplets home after they were born 13 weeks early and spent 11 weeks in the hospital's Nursery Intensive Care Unit (NyICU).
Mr. Freels, 29, and Ms. Freels, 27, got married in 2017 and wanted to start their family straight away.
A few days after learning that Ms. Freels was pregnant, her pregnancy hormone levels were tested and her results were off the chart. Doctors suggested this could mean that the young couple was expecting more than one baby.
Days later, the couple was stunned after their first ultrasound confirmed that Ms. Freels was actually carrying five babies. The mom described it as "one of the craziest moments," of their lives, adding that despite their excitement, she and her husband knew a rare quintuplet pregnancy carried unique risks.
They began searching for a specialist, and Mr. Freels connected with perinatologist Dr. John Elliott, working out of Phoenix. The couple moved to Arizona for the remainder of the pregnancy.
Ms. Freels' goal was to carry the babies up to 34 weeks gestation, but when she experienced serious pain at 27 weeks, she was admitted to the hospital and discovered that she was already 6 centimeters (2.3 inches) dilated. The babies were delivered via emergency cesarean section on June 4. Each was monitored by neonatologists, nurses, and respiratory therapists in the operating room before being transferred to the hospital's world-renowned NyICU.
"I was so emotional leading up to the moment I could finally hold all of them in my arms after carrying them in my belly," Ms Freels said. "It was a moment I will forever cherish."
As Adelyn, Eliana, Linnea, Harper, and Fisher went from strength to strength without any serious complications, their parents stayed by their side and celebrated all signs of progress such as when they were strong enough to take a bottle or their cute hiccups.
The first three babies were discharged in early August, and, after 11 weeks in the NyICU, the remaining two were not far behind.
To date, the couple's GoFundMe page has raised over $22,000 toward the quintuplets' future care.
"We are so grateful to have all of our children home with us," Ms. Freels said. "We are so grateful that so many prayers have been answered, and we are looking forward to creating new memories as a family of seven."
