A rare arrival
When Marco Bernal realized his wife was pregnant with triplets, he had to sit down on the living room floor. "Are you crying?" Nylah Craft asked her husband as he stared at the ultrasound images. "How are we going to do this?" he replied. "The same way every people do it," she answered. "We'll be fine."
The couple's triplets — Elio, Elias and Enzo — were born at the Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center on Aug. 18. Doctors there described the pregnancy and birth as remarkably rare, and expressed relief that the babies were born healthy and the mother is doing well, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"This is a very rare pregnancy and a rare outcome," Dr. Rohit Passi, chief of neonatology, told the Los Angeles Times.
What makes the case unusual
The triplets were conceived naturally, Passi said, which happens in only about one out of 10,000 pregnancies. Times Now also reported that the conception occurred without fertility treatment.
Even more unusual, doctors said, is the type of triplets Craft gave birth to: two are identical twins and the third is a fraternal twin, making them "mixed triplets." Times Now explained that the identical pair originated from the same fertilized egg that later divided, while the third baby developed from a separate egg.
The pregnancy was carried to 36 weeks, which doctors noted is a relatively advanced gestational age for triplets. All three boys were born at healthy weights, with a combined birth weight of approximately 19 pounds, according to both the Los Angeles Times and Times Now.
That combined weight is about three pounds short of the world record total weight for triplets, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. The Guinness record for the heaviest set of triplets at birth is 22.7 pounds.
A team effort
Because of the risks associated with the pregnancy, the hospital assembled a large team to help ensure everything went well, Passi said, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. There were nearly 15 hospital staffers present for the C-section, which the family requested be performed on the father's birthday.
Times Now offered additional detail, reporting that about 15 medical professionals were in the delivery room, compared with roughly five during a typical delivery at that hospital. The outlet noted that having multiple specialists available was important because several newborns may require assessment or immediate medical support at the same time.
Adjusting at home
The family went home about three days after the children were born, where the couple also had to tend to their older daughter and son, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Craft told the Los Angeles Times that her 2-year-old son was mad at his mom for bringing home more children, but has been warming up to them. She said it has been tough taking care of five kids, and that her mother is helping out.
Craft said she had worried about how her husband would react when he learned they were going to have three babies, and that she had always wanted a big family. She also recalled that she had initially thought she was expecting twins when an ultrasound appeared to show two babies, before learning there were actually three, according to Times Now.
Times Now reported that the United States has millions of deliveries each year but only a relatively small number involve triplets. The outlet also explained that multiple pregnancies place greater physical demands on the mother's body and carry increased risks of complications such as preterm birth, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure and anemia, and that women carrying twins or triplets generally require closer prenatal monitoring.
Reaching 36 weeks was a positive milestone because preterm birth is common in triplet pregnancies, and advancements in prenatal monitoring and specialized maternal and neonatal care have improved outcomes for many multiple pregnancies, according to Times Now.