Proud mum of Duleek "miracle" triplets says babies beat odds to celebrate 1st birthday

A GRATEFUL mum of rare spontaneous triplets has told how she believes in miracles after her three babies beat the odds to celebrate their first birthday.

Aisling Keelan (24) and Jordan Duffy (25) from Duleek welcomed not one, not two, but three bundles of joy into their lives on January 17th, 2023 but it wasn't all plain sailing after a sepsis battle during pregnancy left Aisling fighting for her and her babies lives.

“I’m an emotional wreck, I can’t believe how far we’ve all come and that we all are all here celebrating their first birthday,” said Aisling who gave birth to identical boys Sonny and Senan and little girl Willow, a rarity given that conceiving triplets naturally occurs in approximately just one in 10,000 pregnancies.

The proud couple are already parents to five-year-old Evie.

First birthdays are milestones for every parent but none more so than for Aisling who contracted the deadly infection sepsis when she was just fifteen weeks pregnant.

“I didn't think at first that there was actually anything wrong with me, I thought I just had a bit of a fever,” said Aisling.

“It turned out I had an infection in my blood and it ended up being sepsis.”

The mum-of-four underwent an amniocentesis, a test that detects genetic or chromosomal conditions of babies in the womb in the Rotunda Hospital due to doctors concerns about one of the triplets. Just two days later Aisling was rushed to hospital with what doctors would later discover was a life-threatening infection.

“I got the procedure done on the Friday and on the Sunday I felt very tired, I had quite a lot of back pain and I went from freezing cold to having high temperatures,” remembers Aisling.

“Mam rang the ambulance and it came straight out and brought me to the Lourdes Hospital.”

“It took a day or two to know that there was infection in the blood and then it was confirmed it was sepsis.”

The brave mum said it didn't register that it was a life or death situation until after her stint in hospital.

“I was told that I needed to stay in hospital to receive the antibiotics through an IV line and I just remember thinking I can't stay in I have a four-year-old at home that needs her mammy,” said Aisling.

“I don't think it registered in my brain until a week after when I went for my check up and the consultant said 'Aisling, you are very lucky to be alive and very lucky to still have all the pregnancies'.

“It was a really scary time.”

The Duleek mum's rollercoaster multiple pregnancy drama didn't end there when signs of Twin-Twin transfusion syndrome, a condition in which the blood flows unequally between twins that share a placenta started to show.

“Because the two boys were sharing the same sac there were signs at 30 weeks that Senan was getting less blood flow and getting less nutrients than Sonny,” explains the triplet mum.

“I was being monitored closely for two weeks after that and then the decision was made then to get them out,” she added.

“We went in at 31 weeks and six days. Willow was born first and 12.28pm. She weighed 4llb and then Senan came second at 12.30pm and he was 3lb 12oz and Sonny came last and he was born at 12.32pm and he was 3lb 80z.

“It was a miracle that they were all perfect.

“The boys came home first, they were in the NICU at four weeks and I remember thinking 'well, twins is easy, I can do this' but then Willow came home two weeks after them and that's when I was like 'oh holy moly I'm putting another one into the mix' and it's just pure carnage and it has been pure carnage ever since!”

Aisling who felt like she was carrying more than one baby from early in pregnancy says she got the “shock of her life” when she was told it was triplets.

“I was about ten weeks and I was very sick and I remember saying to my partner Jordan I think there's two in there, let's go for a private scan,” said the young Duleek woman.

“I booked a private scan and the sonographer scanned my tummy and told me she could see two amniotic sacs and I turned to my partner and said I told you it was twins!

“The sonographer said ‘Aisling you can see here there is one baby in one sac and you can see there is another two babies in this sac’ and I just remember saying, ‘no there's not’!

“Jordan looked at me and he was green. He kept touching my hand to make sure that I was still in the room.

“I just had this funny feeling there was going to be two and low and behold there was actually three!”

From about 15 weeks I stopped being sick and after that it just flew in. It was an absolutely crazy experience I don't think I'll ever get my head around.”

Aisling says she can't praise the Drogheda hospital’s staff enough for ensuring the safe delivery of her babies.

“I got the best care in the Lourdes, I can't put into words how much they looked after us all. My consultant was just amazing and fought for me to have the triplets there, I wanted to have them in Drogheda and it all worked out, thank god.”

Despite being triplets, each baby is very different from the next as Aisling explains:

“The two boys are identical but they are so different in personality. Senan is so soft, he listens to everything and is so inquisitive and then Sonny you just know he is going to be the joker. He is just so funny and he has a smile for everyone.

“Willow brings the drama, she needs to be on the go all of the time whereas the two boys are so laid back. “

The multiple birth mum says support of close family has been a “godsend” to her and Jordan.

“I have people coming and going all of the time I have such a big family and I'd be absolutely lost without their help they have really been the best team.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, I think in my case it takes a city! Evie is such a brilliant big sister too and always wants to help.

“We have four altogether, it's a mad house but we wouldn't have it any other way!”

Aisling says her family have become somewhat of a talking point in Duleek with people keen to get a glimpse of the trio!

“I have to leave the house half an hour earlier than I need to leave because I am stopped so many times in the village. it is just crazy!”