You don’t know Karen Derrico, yet, but you will know her very well. She’s the star of a new TLC series called “Doubling Down with the Derricos,” in which cameras follow her around as she cares for her family alongside her husband, Deon. The Derricos have 14 kids. Yes, you did read this accurately. They have 14 kids. Fourteen. Do we need to write that again? Oh, and they are all theirs, and they are all natural, and they are mostly multiples with the exception of their two eldest. So, let’s learn a bit more about Karen Derrico, the woman who has this multiples mama praising her every step of the way.
1. She’s from South Carolina
She grew up in Kingstree, South Carolina. She’s currently living in Las Vegas, and she’s every bit a lovely southern woman. She was raised right, and we could all learn a thing or two from her.
2. She Did Lose a Baby
Multiples pregnancies are decidedly high risk, especially as the numbers go up. Karen has been exceptionally fortunate in her many pregnancies to have healthy babies, but that wasn’t the case during their fifth pregnancy. They were expecting triplets, but their son, Carter, did not make it. He died shortly after his birth, leaving his parents with two babies instead of three. Our hearts hurt for this family.
3. Multiples Run in the Family
On Karen’s side of the family, she has so many of her family members have big families, and most of them are due to multiples. There are four sets of twins on her mother’s side of the family. On her father’s side, there are two uncles that have two set of triplets. Her own mother miscarried triplets before Karen was born, and her great-uncle had two sets of twins in his 11 children.
4. She Always Knew She’d Be a Twin Mom
Because there are so many multiples in her family, she’s always thought she might be a twin mom. She would not have been surprised if she went to the doctor during her first pregnancy with her husband and found out that they were expecting twins, but she was shocked to find out that the first two times she got pregnant she was only having one baby.
5. Their Quintuplet Pregnancy Shocked Them
When the found out that they were having five babies at one time, they were shocked. It wasn’t quite shocked, though. It was floored. They had two singletons and a set of twins, and they were looking for baby number five, not five babies. However, they were told they were having quads. Just as they were getting their minds wrapped around the fact that they had four babies and were expecting four more at the same time, the doctor called them back into the office and told them – two days later – that there was a fifth baby hiding behind her breastbone.
6. She Had to Move Away from Her Las Vegas Home with the Quints
This was not an easy pregnancy for her. She was only 22 weeks along when her doctor asked her to move from Las Vegas where she and her husband lived with their four children to Arizona to live in the hospital under the care of a specialist. It was not a happy moment for them, but she was able to keep all five babies in until they reached 32 weeks gestation – which is a wonderful thing with that many babies at one time.
7. She’s Organized
With this many kids comes a lot of organization, and I get that with every fiber of my being (and I only have four little ones). Much like Karen, my husband and I welcomed two singletons and then a set of twins. It requires a really good schedule, kids who are really good at following the routine, and a lot of patience to make sure all homework is done and folders are signed, and Karen likes to line the kids up by birth order and check things that way. We are here for this.
8. They Aren’t Ruling Out More
Karen is not sure she’s done yet, even now that she has 14 children alive and well, and one in Heaven. She and her husband say that they will know when it’s time for them to stop having babies, and they’ll let that decision come to them when they are ready for it.
9. Groceries are Expensive
It costs Karen and her husband around $3,500 per month at the supermarket to feed their family, and that was the number she gave when she was just pregnant with the last set of triplets. She only had 11 kids eating at that point. We wonder what it is now?
10. Their Kids Do Well
One thing that they are quite good at is raising some good kids, and that’s lovely. Their older kids do well in school, and we have no doubt that their younger kids will do just as well with a family who is loving and supportive.
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