In 2012, we first met the Perkins sextuplets on Connect when they were born 10 weeks premature at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Today, these babies aren’t so little anymore. On April 23, Andrew, Benjamin, Caroline, Allison, Levi and Leah celebrated their fifth birthday.
“Part of me can’t believe we made it this far,” Lauren Perkins said. “I remember when they were little babies dreaming of this time. If I can make it until they are four or five and we’ll be past all these bottles and the potty training and the diapers, then we’ll know we’re good. We definitely survived the little years.”
For Lauren and her husband Dave, every day is a busy day in the Perkins home, especially when you have to keep up with six energetic five year olds who will start Kindergarten in the fall. Leah, who stayed at Texas Children’s neonatal intensive care unit much longer than her siblings, already attends a special school for children with developmental and physical disabilities.
So, what is a typical day like in the Perkins home? Recently, we visited the family to find out and to see how much their babies have grown over the last five years.
Referred to as the Perkins Pack – Texas’ first surviving set of sextuplets – a typical day includes preschool class three days a week, swim, soccer and dance classes. While they love to listen to music, watch TV and play outside, they also enjoy helping their mom cook. The sextuplets also have plenty of chores to do around the house like making their beds and picking up their toys. They are at an age where they all enjoy playing together.
“It’s definitely a lot of teamwork for me and my husband,” Perkins said. “I take care of them during the day, and when Dave gets home from work in the evening, he prepares dinner, gives them baths, and is very involved in their day-to-day lives including being an assistant coach on their little soccer team.”
The Perkins never imagined that they would be blessed with six beautiful babies. After struggling with infertility, the couple decided to try one round of intra-uterine insemination and ovulatory stimulating drugs to conceive what they hoped would be their first child.
“It’s pretty crazy that I carried six babies at once and they’re all here and we’re all good,” Perkins said. “It’s a miracle and a true testament of what God can do.”