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(Editor's Note: This article is the seventh in a series highlighting Carrington, Foster and Wells County-area parents of twins, triplets, or any other multiple births.)
Melissa (Munkeby) Speldrich and her husband, Tim, were perfectly happy as a family of five with three kids back in 2013.
Then, the first surprise came in the form of their unplanned arrival, Kallen, to make it an even six in their household in Fisher, Minn., just southeast of Grand Forks.
"We were sure we were done after he came," said Melissa with a laugh. "Tim always joked about having more. He'd have 50 of them if we could afford it."
In late 2020, the biggest jolt of them all came to the two high school sweethearts since the age of 16 when the news of twins came down.
And now, there were six.
Just blame Tim's family history for that one.
"There haven't been a set of twins on my side for many, many years," Melissa said. "There are a few sets on Tim's side."
She recalled that she had felt tired and run down for awhile in her job as a lab technician at Riverview Health in Crookston, Minn., but, "working overnight tends to make you more tired than normal."
With her history of low Vitamin D levels, Melissa says, she wanted to have that checked out to make sure they were regular.
"The doctor said he was going to run some extra tests to rule out a few things, since, let's face it, I'm not a spring chicken anymore," she said.
He told her that she was pregnant, a full seven years after deciding that she and Tim were done having children.
At the ensuing obstetrics appointment, the technician "took out her little Doppler," she recalled, and "I immediately noticed a funny look on her face when she went to find the heartbeat."
"She asked if I wanted to hear something funny," Melissa said. "I wasn't really in the mood for games at that point, and she kind of picked up on it and blurted out, 'Well, it looks like twins!'"
She added, "I don't really remember getting home after that, but it was a complete and total shock. Two weeks before my 40th birthday, I was pregnant with twins."
"Happy birthday to me," Melissa laughed.
The pregnancy transpired as normal, but the doctor decided on a Cesarean section at 37 weeks.
"My blood pressure was slowly creeping up, and I was retaining so much fluid that I was really becoming uncomfortable," she says.
The surgery was a success, and a boy and girl, Hayden and Hazel Speldrich, entered the world on June 8, 2021, to join the rest of their family, 17-year old Chynna, 10-year-old Sawyer, nine-year-old Connor and seven-year-old Kallen. The siblings were born three minutes apart, at 12:50 and 12:53 p.m.
"There were no complications, and we were able to go home two days after delivery," she said.
It was an especially poignant moment for Tim and Melissa's eldest daughter.
"Chynna waited 17 years for a sister, so she was over the moon to welcome her home," beamed Melissa. "She's pretty fond of both of them, but has a special place for her sister. The older kids love to play and talk and do goofy big brother things."
Hayden and Hazel have "polar opposite" personalities, according to the parents.
"Hazel is so outgoing and alert, and attentive to absolutely everything going on around her," said her mom. "She learns and wants to do everything so fast."
Hayden, she says, "is more laid back and sweet and just go with the flow. He loves to laugh, and have his 'piggies' tickled."
Melissa is in the midst of a career change, as she graduated with her Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) degree in December and is currently working to become an RN. Tim currently works as the Maintenance Manager at American Bean in Oslo, Minn., north of East Grand Forks.
They have lived in Fisher for the past 11 years.
Melissa is the daughter of Randy and Pam Munkeby of Carrington, and Tim the son of Steve and Connie Speldrich of Sykeston.