'Our family doubled in one day': Couple welcomes spontaneous identical triplets
An Iowa family doubled in size in a single day.
When Rebecca and Jason Perry decided to expand their family, they were never expecting more than one baby.
"The very first question they asked us is if we knew we were expecting multiples. And our question was, 'Multiples? How many is that?'" said Rebecca Perry.
Rebecca was pregnant with spontaneous identical triplet girls.
"My reaction was to laugh because I thought my husband was going to pass out. He kept pacing a very small room," she said.
Spontaneous triplets are extremely unique as they only happen every 1 in 100,000 pregnancies.
"To get spontaneous triplets, you have to have either one kind of embryo that splits multiple times, or you have to have three pregnancies that try to start at the same time. And that is really rare," said Nebraska Medicine's Dr. Rebecca Rimsza.
Not only are these pregnancies rare, but it's also high risk when triplets share one placenta.
"In this case, we had three babies all had to share one. So that is much more challenging; we always wish babies would share equally, but unfortunately, it's not always the case," said Rimsza.
She said triplets are always born a little early, but more surprises came when the Perrys picked their delivery date of Feb. 14.
"I said, 'do you think the girls are going to be upset with me?' And he said, 'no, I think they'll enjoy being Valentine's babies. Maybe their husbands and boyfriends won't, but they, they'll it,'" Rebecca Perry said.
Rebecca and Jason's Valentine's Day babies will be joining their 2-year-old brother, who was born on Jan. 14, at home once they leave the NICU.
"We have four kids aged two and under, and all born on the 14th," said Rebecca Perry.
Babies Cassidy, Josephine and Leona are thriving in the NICU. Nurses are even describing the girls as feisty.
"Our family doubled in one day. So, it's pretty exciting," said Rebecca Perry.
As for how the family plans to tell the identical girls apart once they're home, they're thinking of nail polish or anklets.
