A couple who had to leave one of their premature triplets in hospital due to a ᴄʜʀᴏɴɪᴄ ʟᴜɴɢ ᴄᴏɴᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ are thrilled to finally have them all reunited at home.
First-time mum Lauren, 28, and Jack Mountain, 29, hit the headlines in January when they defied the odds of “200 million to one” to welcome among the most premature sets of identical triplets ever to be born in Britain.
The couple, from Bewdley, welcomed River, Leo and Beau at the height of the ᴘᴀɴᴅᴇᴍɪᴄ and when the babies were no more than 29 weeks. Despite the ʜɪɢʜ-ʀɪsᴋ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, they arrived six minutes apart after an ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇɴᴄʏ C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ in the early hours of January 16. River and Beau weighed 3lbs 1oz while Leo weighed in slightly lighter at 3lbs after being born at 6.59am, 7.04am and 7.06am respectively. The babies have spent the past three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
The babies were expected to be delivered via a planned C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ at 34 weeks but arrived early in January by ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇɴᴄʏ C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ after Lauren’s waters ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ at 11pm while she was FaceTiming a friend. Lauren said: “I was not expecting it at all”. This week, two of the triplets – Leo and Beau – have finally been allowed home, although River is still in hospital due to “a few more wobbles” related to a ᴄʜʀᴏɴɪᴄ ʟᴜɴɢ ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ he was born with.
Lauren said: “We weren’t expecting to have the babies in a lockdown. The last 14 weeks have been really hard, but the team looking after us have been incredibly attentive to our needs.”
The couple from Bewdley said they were sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ to discover they were having triplets at an early scan as there is no history of multiple births on either side of the family. The triplets were naturally ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ – which the hospital says is a 1 in 60,000 chance.
Lauren said “When we found out we were having triplets it was a complete sʜᴏᴄᴋ, we couldn’t believe it. It was pretty hard to process and get our heads around it as there are no twins or multiples in the family. We FaceTimed family and friends to break the news and see the reaction on their faces. A lot of people couldn’t believe it and thought we were having them on. We had to show them the scan pictures to prove there really were three of them.”
Jack, 29, a plumber and heating engineer, added: “I was really sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ to find out we were having triplets and it took a while to sink in. I was nervous about how we’d deal with having three at home at once. As an only child I had hoped to have a small family. It is a real handful but we are managing with help from our family.”
The babies now “chatter and smile” at home together, the mum said, before adding it is “absolutely lovely” to see them reunited. The couple said they are learning to tell their identical boys apart – by their head shape. Speaking about how they recognise which triplet is which, Lauren said: “It is probably only Jack and I and a few family members who can tell them apart. I think even the nurses in the hospital sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇᴅ. “There are differences in their head shape we use to distinguish them but they might grow out of those.”
Dailypostimes.com
