The parents of 1 in 200 million chance triplets said it’s been “tough” but they’re “loving it” after they celebrated their son’s first birthday. Gina Dewdney and her husband Craig were sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ when doctors at Liverpool Women’s Hospital told them their naturally-ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ babies were such a ʀᴀʀᴇ ᴏᴄᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴄᴇ. Now Jimmy, Jenson and Jaxson are celebrating their milestone birthday.
Gina Dewdney and her husband Craig fell ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ in 2020 and at their 13-week sᴄᴀɴ were in sʜᴏᴄᴋ when they found out they were expecting triplets. But medics were in disbelief when they discovered the babies were sharing a single ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇɴᴛᴀ – so ʀᴀʀᴇ there is only a 1 in 200 million chance of it.
Gina , from Frodsham in Cheshire, said: “They’ve gone through so much already in their tiny little lives so its going to be a big celebration for them and for us as well. Being a mum is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s the hardest job by far but I absolutely love it now, even through the lack of sleep and the hospital visits. It’s tough but I’m loving it, I really am.”
The boys spent six weeks on a ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ care unit before being allowed home. Gina, 34, said she had an ‘inkling’ she was having twins at first – which was later confirmed with a sᴄᴀɴ – before the couple spotted a third ʜᴇᴀᴅ on the sᴄʀᴇᴇɴ. She said: “Twenty minutes into the sᴄᴀɴ Craig said ‘is that a third ʜᴇᴀᴅ?’ and there was silence. The consultant said in 25 years of sᴄᴀɴning they’d never seen triplets, and they were all sharing one ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇɴᴛᴀ which is super, super ʀᴀʀᴇ.”
Mr Dewdney, 35, said: “I was just like ‘how does that work holding them?’ And I was thinking that’s a lot of nappies.” The couple said they had now established a carefully planned routine. Craig said: “If they are even 20 minutes out of sync from one another, you’ll settle one down and then the other one will wake up and then that one could potentially wake up the baby that you’ve just put to sleep. Feeding time is interesting. I have to tidy away while Gina is feeding them or if Gina is spoon-feeding two of them I’ll go in with the other. It’s just learning how to work together with them.”
The couple have set up the Cheshire Triplets Instagram page to share their daily routines with almost 20,000 followers. Mrs Dewdney said: “On Instagram I’m getting loads of interest from people from all around the world who are having triplets or twins. They just want to know life hacks, how to do things, how I manage with three so its been a really positive thing that’s come out of this.”
Gina was landed with £500 of pink girls clothes when she was told early on that two of the babies were girls. She said: “I was excited to have the best of both worlds. I purchased bags of girls clothes and accessories such as girly bibs and ᴅᴜᴍᴍɪᴇs. We even started looking for girl names. But II totally understand why the sᴏɴᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜᴇʀ got the gender wrong for weeks as the babies would never sit still.”
