Young Parents Welcome Quintuplets Home After 11-Week NICU Stay: ‘So Many Prayers Answered’

Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

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).

Graham and Stephanie Freels welcomed their babies–four daughters: Adelyn, Eliana, Linnea, and Harper, and one son: Fisher–at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 4. The siblings were born at 27 weeks gestation, according to a statement by Dignity Health, weighing little more than 2 pounds (approx. 0.9 kilograms) each.

Mr. Freels, 29, and Ms. Freels, 27, got married in 2017 and wanted to start their family straight away.

Ms. Freels when she was pregnant with five babies. Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

Ms. Freels had a pituitary cyst removed but still struggled to get pregnant, so the couple resorted to infertility treatment and intrauterine insemination. After four rounds, they discovered they were expecting in December 2022.

“For years we had prayed that God would bless us with children,” Ms. Freels said. “I’ve always wanted a large family, but I could have never imagined it would happen all at once.”

Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

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.

Mr. and Ms. Freels in the hospital. Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

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.

“Doctors’ orders were to consume at least 4,000 calories a day, to give us the best hope of having babies who had good weights,” the couple explained on a GoFundMe page started by Ms. Freels’ sister. “Unfortunately, Stephanie had hyperemesis gravidarum for the entire pregnancy, and we had to be even more intentional about her getting calories in,” said Mr. Freels, who made multiple weight-gain smoothies for his wife every day and supported her through the sickness.

Adelyn Katherine Freels Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

Eliana Rose Freels Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

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 absolutely terrified,” Mr. Freels said,  “but God was with our family through it all as St. Joseph’s amazing medical team cared for Stephanie.”

“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.”

Linnea Claire Freels Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

Fisher Douglas Freels Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

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.

Harper Lynn Freels Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

The parents with their five babies. Courtesy of Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

“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.”

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