The smiles on the Derricos’ faces also hide a lot of tears. Everyone watching Doubling Down with the Derricos on TLC has heard of baby Carter’s passing and the pain it causes Karen and Deon even today. A member of “the triplins,” Carter was a special little Derrico who’s memory the loving parents and siblings cherish every day. But why does the baby’s name begin with a “C” unlike the other 14 children on Doubling Down with the Derricos?
When the Las Vegas-based couple first realized that they were expecting twins, the Doubling Down with the Derricos parents were reminded of their lost baby. Karen, 40, and her husband Deon, 29, have 14 naturally born children, ranging between the ages of 1-14. After suffering from three unfortunate miscarriages, Karen finally had her first baby, a singleton, Darian in 2006. Progesterone treatment followed, and five years later, the Derricos had their first son Derrick. Along came the twins Dallas and Denver, with the miracle quintuplets Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician, and Daiten trailing behind. In 2018, the Doubling Down with the Derricos mom became pregnant with her first set of triplets. But the delivery was premature and baby Carter passed away a few hours after his birth. “The doctors asked us if we wanted to hold him because he wasn’t able to get the breathing tube down his throat,” revealed Deon, before adding, “they knew he was going to perish.” And that’s why the remaining twins Diez and Dior are lovingly referred to as “the triplins.” However, questions about Carter’s name being spelled out with a “C” still stayed.
In a recently uploaded video on TLC’s Instagram, the Doubling Down with the Derricos parents explained, “Its various reasons but, one of them is when you are forced into such a unique situation, I wanted his name to be unique.” Karen, who immediately broke down in tears continued, “I didn’t want people to ask me his name among all of the other children’s names. And as I’m saying all of the 'D' names, that name comes up. And everyone will ask where’s ‘D?'" Karen cited that if the kids are named Darian, Derrick, Dallas, Denver, Daniel, someone might ask, “Oh, where’s 'Daniel?’" As Deon supported her through this heartbreaking revelation, Karen continued, “I wanted to be able to say, when I say the name ‘Carter’ you automatically know. I don’t have to repeat the story back to you, to take it and say, ‘Oh, that’s the baby that got his angel wings.'”
The Doubling Down with the Derricos star added that she wanted to give baby Carter a unique name, so she derived it from her maiden name Carter. “That’s why we named him Carter. We did not do any injustice to him.” Karen and Deon shared that thus, Carter Derrico became a part of both the families with their names. Real estate investor Deon shared how according to the law after a baby is born, it needs to have a name. In case the baby was born already perished during her delivery, naming him wasn’t required but, they had to since Carter had survived for a couple of hours. “We had names for all three babies according to their sexes which were ‘D’ names,” but because Carter passed away, they thought it was best to single out the special baby with a different name. The Doubling Down with the Derricos father also revealed that his wife had once mentioned him that she wanted to name a baby “Carter” which didn’t happen as they stuck with the letter “D.” So, on losing Carter, Karen got an opportunity to also give that name to him and make sure that it’s always used.
The Derricos keep mentioning and remembering Carter in every episode that TLC fans watch. The name was thus, given strategically so that the Doubling Down with the Derricos family could always honor Carter.
Doubling Down With the Derricos airs Tuesdays at 10pm EST on TLC.
Source: TLC, Karen Derrico