A Kansas City, Kansas, mom has a nickname that’s right on point.
“They call me ‘Double Trouble,’” says Danesha Couch of the name her own mom calls her. “Every time I get pregnant, it’s double-trouble.”
Couch, 20, has given birth to three sets of fraternal twins in just over two years, all without fertility drugs. Caring for her young children is hard work, she says, but she loves being a mom, and calls it an honor.
“I feel blessed because some women I’ve met in my lifetime can’t even have kids,” Couch told TODAY. “I feel really lucky that I can.”
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“I feel like a special lady to be able to say I’ve had three sets of twins,” she said, adding: “I feel like a superwoman.”
Couch gave birth to her first set on April 13, 2014, boys who arrived at just 26 weeks of gestation. She suffered a placental abruption and her son Desmond died within five minutes of his birth. The surviving twin, Danarius, is now thriving at age 2.
“He’s full of energy,” Couch said. “He’s a good big brother. He’s a tough-playing kid and you’d never think he came out 2 pounds, 1 ounce.”
Next came daughters Delilah and Davina, born on May 29, 2015, at 29 weeks. And lastly, her brood was joined by two more sisters, Dalanie and Darla, born on June 17 at 33 weeks.
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Her pregnancies brought a mix of emotions. The first time, while she was still a high-school student, she was scared and anxious. When she was expecting again, this time with fiance Jeffrey Presler, she was “shocked and kind of hysterical” but saw the pregnancy as a second chance to be a mom to twins.
“I figured my first time, losing a child, maybe that was God’s way of saying you’re not ready yet,” she said.
Couch, who is getting married in September, was in disbelief when an ultrasound revealed a third twin pregnancy. She and Presler, 25, looked at each and thought: “This is going to be crazy, but we got this.”
Several of Couch's relatives outside of her immediate family have had twins; twins do not run in Presler's family.
“I said to him, ‘It’s time to put on our parenting pants and step it up because we’ve got more coming,’” Couch recalled.
“I felt like a freak of nature,” she added. “Everyone I told said that sounds impossible.”
Couch’s life is consumed with meals, diapers and getting everyone dressed. “It has its tough days, that’s no lie,” she said.
All of her kids have different personalities, like the ingredients in "a big pot of gumbo," she says, and each new day is a mystery.
“It reminds me of a suspenseful movie,” she says. “It keeps you on your toes and it keeps you guessing but it definitely keeps me out of trouble, to have babies of my own to take care of.”
She is thankful for the regular help of family members who pitch in. Couch is home with her children while Presler works setting up custom aquariums.
Being a mom to five young children is not easy, but Couch says it's worth it.
“I’ve got people to look up to me,” she said, “people that I know that I can love unconditionally and I can get that love back."
“My children are my heart,” she said. “They’re my life, and I wouldn’t change my life.”
TODAY.com contributor Lisa A. Flam is a news and lifestyles reporter in New York. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
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