HOUSTON -- A Houston-area couple is preparing to be parents six times over, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Tom Stansel and his wife, Amanda, will be parents for the first time when Amanda gives birth to sextuplets.

"I never pictured driving a bus, but that seems like what I'll have to do," Tom Stansel said. "I always wanted to be father."

The Stansels are expecting two boys and four girls.

They failed twice before in their effort to have children through intrauterine insemination.

"It was devastating, depressing, sad," Amanda Stansel said.

The third time was the charm.

"(Now we're) doubly blessed, or triple or six-times blessed," she said.

Even though Amanda looks full term, she's only 16 weeks. Her hope is to carry all six babies past 30 weeks.

"Each day, I'm wondering, man, I hope, come on, one more day," Tom Stansel said.

Doctors recommended reducing the six babies to two, but it was a decision the couple was not willing to make.

"It was agony. It was some sleepless nights. It was a tough decision. Why should I reduce? Which ones? The hearts were all strong," Tom Stansel said.

Even though both parents have jobs, six babies will not be cheap. Help is coming from all directions, including six free car seats from Graco.

Doctors told the Stansels that there's an 85 percent chance all the babies will be healthy, so they are planning for six.

They are sharing their experience online through a blog.

"It will all be worth it to have a family I didn't think I'd ever have -- six," Amanda Stansel said.

For more information on the Stansels, visit stanseljourney.com.