After giving birth to her youngest, a supermom who had 12 children in 12 years transformed her family into a real-life Cheaper by the Dozen family.
In the United States, Courtney Rogers, 37, and her minister husband Chris, 34, welcomed 6lb 12oz Cambria into the world on March 7. This brought their total number of children to the magical 12.
The parents claim they had a miscarriage when they first began trying to conceive and never meant to have so many children, but now their brood is “perfect.”
Clint, their oldest son, was born on March 30, 2010, and after that, the pair had six girls, then five more boys.
The fact that we started out with only males and have had five girls instead in the last few years is also amazing, said Courtney.
“Three weeks before I turned 26, Clint was born, but I had no idea I would have more children at the time.
“At 26 years old, I believed myself to be too elderly for them, and I had no idea they would arrive so quickly and be twins.
We initially planned to have a limit of 10 children, but since I still felt young and healthy, we increased that to 12.
Clint, 12, Clay, 10, Cade, 9, Callie, 8, Cash, 7, the twins Colt and Case, 6, Calena, 4, Caydie, 3, Coralee, 2, Caris, 1, and the most recent addition, Cambria, an infant child.
They also reside on a property with more than 200 animals, including pigs, sheep, and chickens, as if the kids weren’t enough to chase after.
Little Cambria was born via C-section, and the family is now glad to have her home after she spent the first few days of her life on oxygen.
The infant had to be watched for a few days after ingesting too much liquids.
In the agonising wait for updates on Cambria’s condition, Courtney and Chris were reminded of the terrifying delivery of their second-youngest child, Caris, who had to undergo an emergency C-section because doctors were concerned she wasn’t receiving enough oxygen.
With 12 kids under the age of 12, Courtney and Chris are organising their family to handle the growing brood.
The longest Courtney has gone without getting pregnant since she became a mother for the first time 12 years ago is seven months. There is a 20-month gap between two of the kids, during which time Courtney unfortunately experienced a miscarriage.
She uttered: “Not having a second child will be odd.
” Pregnancy mostly served me well, I didn’t get sick and was never on bedrest, so I could always look after the kids.
“Having children has been fun for me.”
Since she is responsible for so many children, Courtney can see their developing characters.
The young girls attempt to get away with everything because they are aware that they are the youngest, she claimed.
The parents are now focusing on some home improvements, including an addition to their four-bedroom home to make seven bedrooms, since they have no plans for any additional children.
Additionally, it will allow Courtney more time to concentrate on the weekly shopping, which consists of 10 gallons of milk, six loaves of bread, and 80 disposable diapers (even though they primarily use reusable ones).
The homeschooled children, according to Courtney, are all very close and enjoy “paling up” with one another.
We accomplish everything together, she said. Together, we labour and educate our children at home.
“I assist the kids with all of their schoolwork when they are younger, but once they are older — starting at the age of 12 — we transition to online tuition.”
Breakfast is served in the Rogers home at eight in the morning, followed by math and art lessons.
Around 11.30 am to 12 pm is when Courtney usually serves the younger children sandwiches and puts them down for naps while the larger children prepare their own meals.
The children participate in a variety of language classes, arts activities, and reading sessions in the afternoon, with occasional Zoom piano lessons tossed in.
At 5 o’clock, Courtney typically serves a batch-cooked dinner, such as pasta or homemade pancakes.
The family will typically eat 24 eggs during a meal and consume an entire carton of cereal each morning.
Prior to putting the kids to bed at 8.30 p.m., Courtney oversees housekeeping duties in addition to educating the children.
On her Instagram profile, @littlehouseinthehighdesert, where she has almost 35,000 followers, Courtney shares daily family updates.
She has, however, become the target of some nasty trolls from people who disapprove of her having so many kids due to her large profile.
Individuals we know don’t criticise us in front of us, but there are always online trolls who are mean-spirited, the speaker claimed.
