Parents who have multiples and big families know that a lot of kids in one household is no joke. But not many parents have had quite the same journey as Karen and Deon Derrico of Las Vegas, who had four sets of multiples back-to-back. Now the parents are sharing exactly what it's like to be the parents of 14 children: "It's like getting struck by lightning while getting struck by lightning," dad Deon said.
All four sets of the Derrico multiples were conceived naturally.
According to WCSC, the pair first welcomed oldest girl Darian, then Derick, followed by twins Dallas and Denver. As People reported, next came quintuplets Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician, and Daiten; a set of twins, Diez and Dior; and recently another set of triplets, Dawsyn, De'Aren, and Dyver, who turned 1 on July 6, according to a post the mom shared on Instagram.
The parents always knew they wanted a big family.
And multiples happen to run in both of their families.
"So on my mother's side there are four sets of twins. On my father's side I have an uncle, a great uncle, that has two sets of triplets," the mom confessed to WCSC in February 2019.
"My mother miscarried triplets right before me, and then my grandmother's brother has 11 children, and within those 11 children, there are two sets of twins," Deon added.
So naturally, Karen and Deon weren't surprised when they started having multiples of their own.
The parents sort of suspected that twins were in their future, so Dallas and Denver weren't a total surprise, but with their next pregnancy they were shocked to learn that they were pregnant with four babies. Until a doctor's appointment revealed something even crazier.
"She goes and looks, and she finds the baby girl behind my wife's breast, breastbone," Deon recalled. "And that's the fifth one, so you can only imagine our shock. I mean we were still, this is two days later, so we were still in awe over the first four."
Her doctors decided that she needed to be under a specialist's care in Mesa, Arizona, for the rest of her pregnancy. After weeks, their quints were born safe and sound.
With so many children, the parents try to keep on top of them as best they can.
"Seven o'clock is everybody's time to bring me all their folders to be signed, homework and everything is done and completed, all their backpacks and everything is packed and lined up," the mom explained.
"In birth order, everything is birth order," her husband added.
Of course, having such a big brood isn't easy.
The parents, who will soon star in a new TLC reality show Doubling Down with the Derricos, shared that at times things can certainly be chaotic.
"Many parents know with just one child, two children, it's a job. But when you have soon-to-be 14, it's a job," 49-year-old Deon shared in a trailer for the show, which will premiere at 10 p.m. ET on Aug. 11.
The show will chronicle the family through Karen's pregnancy with their triplets, the Daily Mail reported. The trailer even shows Deon holding down the fort while Karen goes on bed rest at 24 weeks. At one point, Karen goes into active labor early, and Deon is nervous their babies will be born too prematurely.
"Our triplet babies have not had enough time in the womb, and I am just terrified," he admitted in the video.
Of course, we'll just have to watch and see what happens to the Derricos, but what is clear is that no matter how crazy things get, these parents adore their children.
"We have our good days and our bad days," Karen continued. "But there's always enough love."
