Changing 12 nappies in an hour, pram problems and telling your own children apart is just part of the everyday for the couple with triplets. And now thousands of Instagram followers can watch their progress.
Gina
'The other day we were trying to go out and it took me an hour... and in that time I changed 12 nappies'
Triplets were a first for everyone I saw medically during the pregnancy – all the doctors, consultants and midwives. When I said I wanted to breastfeed, there was information for twins but when I asked how we’d do that for triplets, they said that they’d need to come back with an answer.
That's where Instagram really helps because I was able to reach out to other triplet mums all around the world asking questions like: Oh, I can see you breastfed. How did you do this? How did you do that? How do you know what to do when this happens? Which pram do you use?
I had so many questions, and while the team at Liverpool Women's Hospital was incredible and specialised in multiple births, our case was so rare that having a direct line to other parents who have been through the same situation has been invaluable. It’s made me feel a lot more normal and a lot more accepted into a community.
And now, because I've started my own little Instagram for the boys, I've got other mums that are pregnant, or just had triplets and they contact me and say: How do you do this? How do you do that? Have you got any advice? and I feel I'm able to give a bit of help back.
Our Instagram (with the heading: Gina Dewdney – Triplet Mama UK naturally conceived identical triplets) now has more than 30,000 followers watching the boys grow. When they were born and we were basically living on the ward, coming home very late at night and then going back early in the morning, it felt as though we had so much support from people we’d never met. That was a huge boost.
They were born at 31 weeks and were in the neonatal intensive care unit for six weeks and then when we got them home they were still before their due date and so small. They're still in 9-12 months' clothes now.
Initially, we bought a pram for them from America – second-hand, because it was obscenely expensive new – but we couldn’t get it through doors anywhere. So then we got one that was sort of three-in-line, one in front of the other, which got through doors but we couldn’t fit it in the car, and it felt like we were a supermarket attendant bringing all the trolleys back to the supermarket. The easiest set-up is one double and one single but obviously, you need two people to take them out for that, so we've now got one with two seats facing backward and two seats facing forward. It is quite heavy and it does look like a black crate but I can actually take them out on my own, although with their coats, some food and nappy-changing bits, there’s no space for anything else. So if we ever go away on a holiday we will need a bus or a van.
Now they're running around even I can’t tell from behind; I have to look at them straight on, so what I tend to do is dress them in similar, but distinctive clothes. So they might all have the same T-shirt but with different trousers. They've all got their own little colours – Jimmy’s blue, Jensen's orange and Jaxson's green – so if they're running away from me I knew who I'm shouting at to come back.
Despite how it can look on social media I think we all owe it to each other as parents to be honest and not gloss over the hard bits. The other day we were trying to go out and it took me an hour... and in that time I changed 12 nappies. As soon as I got one clean, another one pooed. It’s normally at least a packet of 24 nappies a day.
We've had a lot of hospital appointments with them and they've all needed different surgeries and, it hasn't been all smooth running. I feel it's important to vocalise that. It frustrates me to see accounts on Instagram or speak to other mums and everyone's saying their child sleeps through, and they're good as gold and never have any issues or problems. It just makes you feel as if you’re a rubbish parent because you’ve been up all night and the house is a mess.
It’s important to let people know it's not all rainbows and unicorns. It is tough and you're only human; you're going to find times hard, but you can get through it and there's light at the end of the tunnel. And it’s also brilliant – by far the best thing we have ever done. Every day I look at these little miracles and I just feel so lucky because they have so much love to give and they're so playful. They were 200 million to one. The consultants said it would be easier to win the EuroMillions, and that’s how we feel – as if we won the lottery.
For the rest of their lives, they will have each other, and it's amazing. It's just an absolute miracle.
Craig
'She is the best mother anyone could hope for. I have no idea how she does it. She’s very aware that you've got to try and split yourself into three'
There was a moment in the scan where the sonographer congratulated us on twins, and then we saw what looked like another baby’s head. She said: 'In my 25 years of scanning, I’ve not seen triplets, it can’t be' and then she went very, very quiet.
It took a while for it to sink in. Gina had an inkling she might be expecting twins, she had a lot of symptoms very early in the pregnancy including insomnia, a lot of sickness and she was getting visual migraines.
This was during Covid, so I was really pleased to be allowed into the scan, and then to be told we were expecting triplets, it was amazing but terrifying at the same time.
Soon after the scan, Gina had a bleed and we were so worried we’d lost them, but miraculously, they were OK.
I've got a medical background, so I started looking at scientific papers, but I couldn't share the information I was finding with Gina because there was a high death rate. I think it was something like a third of mothers with the type of pregnancy that Gina had didn’t survive, and I knew she didn’t want to hear that.
I was getting really anxious; they didn't even quote figures or risks for the babies. They talked in some papers about pregnancies that have two babies with one umbilical cord and one baby that's separate from it, but Gina basically had one placenta feeding all three babies, so there were all these risks and I was really nervous. Plus, Gina has a slight heart murmur. But she got through it incredibly well.
During the pregnancy, when 6pm came around, Gina had to go to bed. The hormones had relaxed her ligaments so much she couldn't get up the stairs. I didn’t know how we’d cope. But then when the babies arrived, she just turned up a gear.
She is the best mother anyone could hope for. I have no idea how she does it. She’s very aware that you've got to try and split yourself into three. In the early days, we were very regularly eating our tea on the stairs, listening out for them. When one baby cried we would stop what we were doing. That seemed to be the way for about six months.
Gina was breastfeeding and when we went to classes they explained how to breastfeed twins, but no one knew what to do with triplets. Obviously, we had to top them up with formula, but Gina wanted to breastfeed as much as possible herself.
The boys were premature, so they were on 45-minute feeds and it would take half an hour to feed one and then another one would wake up, over and over, 24 hours a day. It was overwhelming to start with, but they’re amazing.
I've said to Gina many times, thank goodness we had the three of them first rather than having one, thinking that was stressful and then falling pregnant with triplets.
One child can be hard enough but I've seen how Gina has adapted. I am so proud of her.
We've got three amazing sons, and I’ve got an amazing mother for them as well.
It’s hard sometimes, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Our boys: Jimmy, Jaxson and Jensen
Jimmy started walking first. He’s the one that goes into the soft play first. He loves adventure and action – sometimes a bit too much – he’s a bit of an adventurer.
Jaxson has picked up words so fast. He's like a parrot – he will say anything that you've said back to you. He is really keen to communicate.
Jensen is really affectionate. He gives out a lot of love, and he likes puzzles and working things out. He's a massive thinker. He’ll step back, watch the others work something and then he'll join in.
