Karen confesses to her mother-in-law that she and Deon are having issues related to communication. How is their marriage faring under the stress?

Is the mirror cracking on the nuptial bliss of Karen and Deon from TLC’s Doubling Down With the Derricos? Or is a temporary chink in the Derrico armor after managing a tiny army of 14 children, keeping up with a busy household, and responding to the demands of a professional career to be expected?

In an episode from season one of Doubling Down With the Derricos, Karen confessed to her mother-in-law, Gigi Derrico, that all is not well between the king and queen of the castle. The senior Mrs. Derrico empathized and sympathized with the younger Mrs. Derrico, given the number of children the couple is raising. She also confessed to TLC producers that raising her two children and maintaining a good marriage was hard enough, and she can only imagine how the stress of raising 14 kids impacts the couple’s relationship. She also offered a bit of neutral-sounding, yet helpful advice to Karen that underscored the importance of keeping the lines of communication open, as communication is the key to keeping the marriage healthy and moving forward. “When you keep your feelings bottled up inside of you, you become two units [as opposed to one],” said the senior Mrs. Derrico.

According to Daily Soap Dish, Karen said she and Deon seem to be leading separate lives when it comes to focusing on the different needs of their children. Karen expressed to her mother-in-law that she is experiencing breastfeeding bonding issues with Dawsyn that are troublesome to her, and she is unable to share this concern with Deon. She said they’re like two ships that pass in the night because each has busy schedules with their children, which means they rarely see one another. Gigi emphasized that making time for each other is critical. Karen also confessed that she and her husband have separate concerns that are throwing their relationship out of sync. “It’s like we have two different focuses,” she said in an interview with The Things. “I mean, I am inundated with three new babies, one needing extra care. And then he’s got the focus of to and from school, all the extracurricular activities, running a business, running the properties,” she said. Karen also admitted that the frustration she feels is contributing to the poor attitude she has when interacting with her husband.

Karen and Deon are no doubt under enormous stress. In addition to nurturing 14 children, the couple recently went through a serious medical procedure with one of their newborns. Baby Dawsyn had to undergo surgery to place a stent in her heart. Though the surgery went well, it was the recovery that challenged the family. A week after surgery, little Dawsyn got pneumonia and jaundice and remained in the hospital for about a month.

Whether the couple can get back on the same page remains to be seen. But marriages ebb and flow, and with 14 children and a TV show impacting on their continued union, they undoubtedly will work through this hopefully minor dip in the relationship.