The triplets who were a 200 million-to-one chance: Couple beat the odds to give birth to identical set of girls 
 
 
 
 Karen and Ian Gilbert welcomed their tiny triplets six weeks ago 
 
 Doctors offered them a termination fearing the babies might not survive 
 
 
 
 Their parents, from Pontypool, say the experience has been 'crazy' 
 
 
 
 
 
 When Karen Gilbert learned she was pregnant with extremely rare identical triplets, she was stunned and delighted. 
 
 But, she said, doctors took a different view of her one-in-200million pregnancy and twice gave her an option to terminate it. They feared the three foetuses could take each other’s fluid and space and might not survive. 
 
 Later in the pregnancy she was told she could choose to keep only one or two of them. But Mrs Gilbert and her husband Ian were determined to have their three little girls. Now Ffion, Madison and Paige – who were born two months early on August 2 – have come home from hospital. 
 
 Delighted: Karen Gilbert with Ffion, Madison and Paige, whose birth weights were 3lb 80z, 3lb 5oz and 3lb 4oz 
 
 Mrs Gilbert, 32, said: ‘The pregnancy has taken its toll but now I’m taking my time to recover and get to know my three beautiful girls. 
 
 ‘The doctors thought it could be up to three months before we could bring them home so we feel privileged to have them here with us.’ 
 
 Mr Gilbert, a 34-year-old business manager, said: ‘We couldn’t consider termination – they were our babies. They were scanned every week to make sure they were growing fine.’ 
 
 Identical triplets occur when one egg splits in three, a one in 200million chance without IVF say experts. The couple from Pontypool, Wales, also have an older daughter Faye, aged three. 
 
 Beating the odds: (left to right) Ffion, Maddison and Paige Gilbert with their proud parents Karen and Ian 
 
 Doing well: The tiny trio spent the first six weeks of their life in intensive care but have now been allowed home 
 
 But medical professionals feared the rare birth and lack of space inside the womb could see the babies killing one another potentially killing one another. 
 
 'They were concerned about twin to twin syndrome, when the babies take each other’s fluid or space and starve or cramp each other,' revealed their father. 
 
 'Because they are identical, they all share the same placenta and the same fluid. 
 
 'They all grew and fought so quickly it was practically ripping Karen’s muscles apart. 
 
 
 
 'But we couldn’t consider termination - they were our babies. We were scanned every week to make sure they were growing fine. 
 
 ' At the last scan at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny Karen was in very serious pain. The doctors gave her pain killers but she started having contractions. 
 
 'Karen gave birth at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, but we got transferred back for the ante natal care.' 
 
 Painful: The strain of carrying the triplets took its toll on Karen and she is relieved the girls are safe and healthy 
 
 
 
 Sister act: The Gilberts' oldest daughter Faye, three, cuddles her trio of newborn siblings 
 
 Admin assistant Karen, 32, who gave birth by caesarian section two months early, said the experience had been 'crazy' but added that she was looking forward to getting to know her newborn daughters. 
 
 'It’s been crazy,' said Karen, who has another daughter named Faye, three. 'I still feel like someone’s going to tell me I’ve had my time with them now and take them away. 
 
 'We got married, went on honeymoon to New York, and came back to find out we were expecting. At first we thought it was one, but at eight weeks I got some really bad pains. We thought it was a miscarriage but it turns out it was three babies fighting for space. 
 
 'The pregnancy has taken its toll but now I’m taking my time to recover and get to know my three beautiful girls. 
 
 'Their personalities are already starting to shine through and I can’t wait to get to know them better.' 
 
 
 
 Now eight weeks old, the three girls are still tiny and weigh just six pounds - smaller than the average newborn. 
 
 'At first they didn’t look real and you could pick them up with one hand,' said business manager father Ian, 34, who added: 'It was a bit of a shock. 
 
 Intensive care: The babies spent the first six weeks of their life at the Nevill Hall hospital in Abergavenny 
 
 Home at last: The family are now back home in Pontypool and are looking forward to getting to know each other 
 
 'Now we’ve got them home we are coming to terms with it. They are starting to feel like our own. We had a few scares during the pregnancy, especially when Karen fell top to bottom down the stairs. 
 
 'Our three-year-old daughter Faye was in bed and I was at work. I came home to find Karen unconscious on the floor. I was petrified. I still can’t believe we made it through.' 
 
 'We were worried the hospital wouldn’t have enough beds and we’d have to split them up. It would have been horrible,' added Karen. 
 
 'There was also the worry that one would be ready to come home before the others. Luckily, we managed to keep them together. 
 
 ' The doctors thought it could be up to three months before we could bring them home so we feel privileged to have got them here with us so soon.' 
 
 
 
 Julian Hayman, press office for Nevill Hall Hospital, said: 'The midwives were all thrilled to have a triplet birth at the Royal Gwent Hospital. ||||| It was a very special delivery and a first for the doctors and nurses at Corpus Christi Medical Center Bay Area Hospital as identical girl triplets were born Saturday night, two of which are conjoined. It's a story you can only find on 3News. Kiii News Reporter Briana Whitney looked into it and came back with the details.A special delivery is an understatement..."We've been here for about a month and a half, since the 6th of April," said Raul Torres, here at Bay Area hospital with his wife Silvia.Silvia and Raul Torres were nothing short of excited when they heard they were having twin girls, but weeks after that, they got news they never expected...they were having identical girl triplets...two of which are conjoined at the pelvis."We're going to love them no matter how they look and how they come out," said Raul.Silvia speaks very little english, so Raul has been helping translate messages from the doctors and nurses. Both telling us it's been a rough journey so far."Sometimes she couldn't even walk, stand up, go to the bathroom take a shower or anything," said Raul."We are asking for everyone's prayers," said Silvia.Silvia is prepared for a c-section delivery, but this surgery is unlike any other birth, risky and dangerous."From mom's standpoint there is an increased risk of bleeding and complications from the surgery," said Dr. Ryan Loftin, an OBGYN with Driscoll Children's Hospital.But tears of fear just hours before turned into tears of happiness. The three girls born minutes part...get this...all weighing 4 pounds 11 ounces. And if that wasn't enough, the chance of having identical girl triplets with two conjoined is a 1 in 50 million chance.To put that into perspective it's a one in 10 million chance of becoming President of the United States, so this baby and her sisters are truly a miracle.So as Mom recovers, we were there as Dad got to hold Catalina, the single triplet, for the very first time."It's like a gift of God," said Raul.A moment he will never forget. Ximena and Scarlett, the two conjoined girls, now being cared for at Driscoll Children's Hospital. The parents say it'll be 6 months to a year before they can look into separating the two, but the proud parents are ready for the challenge ahead."God chose us for a reason, to take care of them. He sent us little angels for a reason, so it's a big blessing for us," said Raul.Three angels, a scientific rarity to doctors, a miracle for the Torres family.Briana Whitney 3 News.
– To conceive identical triplets with fertility drugs, or to spontaneously conceive fraternal triplets, is not necessarily headline-worthy. But "to have a patient with spontaneous identical triplets is incredibly rare," says a doctor who recently delivered a set of such triplets—and puts the odds at about one in a million. Jody and Jase Kinsey of Miles City, Mont., knew that multiples were a possibility—Jase's dad was a twin—but they weren't expecting to hear, from the tech at their first ultrasound, that there appeared to be three babies in there. They soon ended up under the care of the aforementioned specialist, Dr. Dana Damron, and Jody gave birth to sons Cade, Ian, and Milo on Dec. 5, the Billings Gazette reports. Jody, 30, and Jase, 29, were already parents to son Jax, 6. "With them being identical, they all shared the same placenta so there could be possible complications," Jody explains; Damron kept a close watch to make sure all the babies were growing equally. Jody stopped working in September and was admitted to the clinic with early signs of labor in November, but ultimately the babies waited until 32 weeks—about the average gestational age for triplets, according to Damron. They were born via C-section between 3 pounds, 11 ounces and 4 pounds, 1 ounce, and all were "in excellent condition," he adds. Cade has been released from the hospital, but doctors want Milo and Ian to get a little better at eating first. Interestingly, another set of spontaneous identical triplets was born on New Year's Eve in Minnesota to Terri and Peter Pazdernik, People reports. These three are girls, named Hannah, Natalie, and Elise. (More identical triplets here and here. Even crazier? This story of identical quadruplets conceived naturally.)