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Abayomi Ajayi
About two years ago, when Josephine found that she was expecting her first child, she and Joseph, her husband, were cautiously optimistic because of their previous experiences with miscarriage first at 12 weeks, then at barely seven weeks.
Josephine, 34, had battled the disappointment of miscarriage enough times already and as a result, she was not in any way looking forward to repetition at any time soon, but never for a moment doubted the fact that the road to parenthood was not a picnic.
As she and Joseph waited at the clinic for the computer scan to confirm the pregnancy, the sonologist was quiet for a moment before announcing that she had picked up two heartbeats.
The doctor explained to the surprised couple that Josephine was carrying twins and actually turned the monitor so that they could see the two sacs on the screen. But as they watched, she got quiet briefly before announcing that she had picked up a third heartbeat.
Are you sure, Joseph asked, but his question was pointless. They all could see the three sacs clearly on the monitor. Yes, they were expecting triplets! Josephine was stunned into silence, she did not know whether to laugh or cry.
All their plans to have their first baby dramatically had been tripled within a few seconds to include the second baby and the third baby in rapid succession.
The couple’s surprise was not unusual. It was an uncommon pregnancy because spontaneously conceiving triplets without the aid of fertility treatments are slim indeed.
The pregnancy was straightforward. Josephine did everything by the book to nurture the pregnancy and everything went well. As her date of delivery approached, she and her doctors watched closely for any signs of complications or potential problems.
Further scans showed that two of the triplets shared a placenta – giving a strong possibility of a set of identical twins among the triplets.
On the final day of the 34th week of gestation, Josephine and Joseph’s all-female triplets were born. It was the happiest day of their lives, so they named the first baby Joy. There was a lot of felicitation over their birth, so they called the second baby Felicity. Because of the harmony associated with their conception, they named the third baby Harmony.
Felicity, her identical twin sister, Harmony, and their fraternal triplet sister Joy were so much loved.
Long before the arrival of their bundle of joy, the proud new parents knew that their babies would need special newborn care, including a neonatal intensive care unit and extra support. The little girls were all small, but relatively healthy and with the help and cooperation of the healthcare workers, received all the care that they required.
Joy was the first baby that was taken home after about a week in the hospital. The twins who were smaller stayed almost another week. With three newborns including a set of twins, the couple’s new life as a family of five had begun. It was a long, rough road to parenthood, but the triplets made the journey worthwhile.
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