When Amy and Chad Kempel initially began trying to start a family, the road to pregnancy wasn’t an easy one.
Two years of ᴜɴsᴜᴄᴄᴇssFᴜʟ ᴀᴛᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛs ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ ʟᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ Aᴍʏ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀɢᴏɪɴɢ ɪɴᴛʀᴀᴜᴛᴇʀɪɴᴇ ɪɴsᴇᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (IUI), ᴀ Fᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ ɪɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ sᴘᴇʀᴍ ɪs ᴘᴜᴛ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ ᴀ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ’s ᴜᴛᴇʀᴜs ᴛᴏ ᴇɴᴄᴏᴜʀᴀɢᴇ Fᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, in 2012. The ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ was a success. The couple learned Amy was pregnant with twin boys. Sᴀᴅʟʏ, their ᴇxᴄɪᴛᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ ɪɴ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋ when she went into ᴘʀᴇᴛᴇʀᴍ ʟᴀʙᴏʀ at 22 weeks. While the boys, named Marshall and Spencer, were born aʟɪᴠᴇ, they were not developed enough to ʟɪᴠᴇ beyond the ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ and never made it home.
Not ready to give up on their dreams of having children, Amy and Chad tried again, resulting in the birth of their oldest daughter Savannah, 5, and then a second daughter Avery, 3. But as anyone who has ever sᴜffᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ ᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏss of a child knows, pregnancy is never the same again. Amy was leaning toward keeping their family to the two kids, while Chad really wanted another child.
Despite Amy’s ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅᴀʙʟᴇ ʜᴇsɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, the couple moved forward with trying for that third…and got way more than they bargained for. Amy became pregnant with quintuplets.
“Right away we were thinking if Amy’s body wasn’t able to hold two babies (to term) then how the hell is it going to hold five?” says Chad. “ We were terrified.”
Fortunately, all of those unknowns did have positive outcomes. Amy deʟɪᴠᴇred all five babies at 27 weeks, with the quints spending a total of 63 days in the NICU.
Now the Kempel quints are closing in on almost two years of life (their birthday is January 11), and the family of nine recently relocated from California to a new home in Idaho. Amy admits their surreal family life still hasn’t quite hit her and raising seven kids is an adventure she never saw coming. Not only are the Kempels learning day-by-day what it’s like to parent five children of the exact same age and two older daughters, but they’re keenly aware of how this stress could be detrimental to their relationship. Providing for a big family is obviously an enormous expense.
To keep everyone on track, Amy and Chad maintained the sleeping and eating schedules the quints were given while in the NICU.
“During the week when Chad is working I’m taking care of the babies by myself,” says Amy. “They wake up, they get breakfast, they get diaper changes, and playtime, and meals, and things throughout the day. Because there’s five, everything just takes so long. I feel like there’s not even time to do much else in between.”