In the community where I grew up, "it's a couple of ..." always means "I think it's about two ..." - So it's a loose way to say "probably two, but it might be a little more".
We always use it to mean two. Why say "a couple" instead of "two"? Because I'm not 100% sure it's two, it could be three or possibly four. If we believe it's 3 or a little more, we say "a few".
I think this might not be used the same way in different communities.