On Sept. 1, Ferndale residents Stephanie and Graham Freels took their infant quintuplets to the shores of Birch Bay to soak up a little Vitamin D.
“It was funny because people would walk by, wait a second, and then notice how many car seats were in the strollers,” Stephanie, 27, said during a recent telephone interview. “They’d ask ‘Are these all in the same family?’ And we’d say, ‘Yep, they’re all ours!’”
It was an auspicious outing, as Sept. 1 was the original due date of the five babies, who were born prematurely by emergency cesarean section June 4 at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.
The Freels — who had undergone fertility treatments leading up to the pregnancy — relocated to Arizona when Stephanie was 16 weeks along. She was hoping to make it to 34 weeks before giving birth, but the babies were delivered at just 27 weeks.
Graham, 29, had started researching doctors almost immediately after learning they’d be having quintuplets, and soon came across the name of Dr. John Elliott, a perinatologist specializing in multiple pregnancies. After meeting remotely with Dr. Elliott and his team in Phoenix, the couple decided it was in the babies’ best interest to be in close proximity to both the doctor and the hospital.
On a recent outing to Birch Bay, passersby wondered if all five babies were in the same family. Graham and Stephanie Freels were happy to report, “Yep, they’re all ours!” (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Freels) Dr. Elliott had already delivered 25 sets of quintuplets, so they knew they were in safe hands.
Stephanie and Graham were well aware the pregnancy was still a risky one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the more than 3.6 million births recorded in the United States in 2020, only 29 were quintuplets or higher-order multiples.
“(Worldwide), it’s one in 55 million,” Graham said. “So, it’s pretty rare.”
From the beginning, the couple said, Dr. Elliott made it clear he wanted to help them because he wanted their pregnancy to succeed.
“He was our hope in that pregnancy,” Graham said.
In the delivery room, the doctor made a point to take every baby and show it to them before transferring the newborns to the hospital’s Nursery Intensive Care Unit (NyICU).
“One got taken away too soon, and he brought it back,” Stephanie said. “You don’t get to hold them right away in that situation, so at least you get to see them for a little bit before, which is really cool.”
Adelyn, Eliana, Linnea, Fisher and Harper Freels spent 11 weeks in NyICU, with each baby being monitored by a neonatal team. Stephanie and Graham were with them as much as possible, and, after the children were released from the hospital, they took them to see the doctor who’d delivered them.
“His face lit up,” Stephanie said. “It was amazing.”
The couple left Whatcom County as a couple and returned home on Aug. 27 as a family of seven. All of their babies appear to be healthy and thriving.
Adelyn, Eliana, Linnea, Fisher — the only boy in the bunch — and Harper get some floor time. The infants were born June 4 and returned to Ferndale with their parents Aug. 27. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Freels) Now, as the fraternal quintuplets adjust to “regular” life, Graham and Stephanie are focusing their immediate future on being the best parents they can be. Since returning to Ferndale, they’ve had multiple family members and friends reaching out and helping out, as well as members of their church. Stephanie’s sister, Alisha Allen, and husband Jacob Allen have started a GoFundMe to help out.
“The support has been a little bit unfathomable,” Stephanie said. “So many people have been so generous. It’s a rare situation, but for some reason in my head I don’t think it is. People reach out and want to help, and it’s been amazing how kind everybody has been. It’s been incredible and wild.”
Thanks to the schedule the babies were on in the NyICU, the couple reports they typically sleep around five hours in the middle of the night, allowing the new parents to get some shut-eye.
A typical day involves plenty of feeding, changing diapers and doing laundry, as well as lots of snuggles. The infants’ personalities are slowly emerging: Adelyn, the oldest, has been dubbed Sleeping Beauty and Fisher, the only boy, is “feisty.” Linnea is “chill” and Harper requires plenty of snuggling.
Stephanie said she and Graham have wanted to be parents for a long time, and being a mother is almost indescribable.
“I’m excited to be a part of their lives forever,” she said. “When they become a little older, with stronger personalities, I will probably have more of a favorite thing about being a mother.”
As for having more babies, Graham and Stephanie aren’t sure if they will yet. They always wanted to have a lot of kids, and have even discussed adoption, but want to give the “Freels five” their full attention right now.
“It would be kind of cool to have more,” Stephanie said. “But I don’t think I’d do five at a time again.”
