A couple from Houghton, in Tyne and Wear were left in total sʜᴏᴄᴋ when they attended their 12-week appointment expecting to see one baby – only to learn there were three on the way were discovered to be ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴄᴀʟ, which is ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴅɪʙʟʏ ʀᴀʀᴇ.
The couple, who already had Elijah, 4, and two-year-old Zion, are now proud parents to five little boys. And received a ‘ᴍᴀssɪᴠᴇ sʜᴏᴄᴋ’ when they saw the babies on the scan. Amy said :”I was on the bed and Alex said he could see quite a lot of movement on the scan. That’s when the sᴏɴᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜᴇʀ asked if there was a ʜɪsᴛᴏʀʏ of twins in the family and revealed there were two babies. But the sᴏɴᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜᴇʀ had got it ᴡʀᴏɴɢ and ɢᴀsᴘᴇᴅ as they realised there was a third baby. We were initially ᴀʟᴀʀᴍᴇᴅ as we thought she’d noticed something ᴡʀᴏɴɢ with one of the babies but that’s when she revealed there was another one in there. At that point I got quite emotional. The plan was this would be our last child and with two boys under four, I wondered how we would cope. I just kept thinking, I’ve only got two arms, how am I going to hold and feed them.”
Alex said :” When we first found out it was a real sʜᴏᴄᴋ, but we are ᴀ Cʜʀɪsᴛɪᴀɴ family, and feel blessed as children are a gift from God. This really helped us to get through what was a potentially ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ.” Estimates vary, but experts believe the odds of having ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴄᴀʟ triplets are anything from one in 60,000, to one in 200m. Amy gave birth to Abel, Asher and Azariah in July at Sunderland Royal Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ after 35 weeks of ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. She said: “I felt really blessed. It was ᴀ ʜɪɢʜ ʀɪsᴋ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, but they all got to really good weights. Abel was 6lb 2, Asher 5lb 12 and Azariah 5lb 11. However, it was very difficult by the end of my ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. Even getting dressed was difficult and I was in ᴘᴀɪɴ just sitting down. They’re very settled babies but the biggest challenge comes at feeding time when you’ve three babies all wanting to be fed at the same time. I’ve been breast feeding them but have been topping it up with bottle feeds which also allows me to get support from Alex and my mother.”
The family are lucky to live in a four-bedroom detached house, but have still had to move their dining table and chairs to make more room. Alex said :” My friends keep joking that when the boys are older we can start our own five-a-side team. “
