24 August 2022

"Is that a third head?" Craig Dewdney looked on in disbelief as he and wife Gina discovered during their 13-week scan that they were having triplets. Their identical triplets also shared a placenta, making them one in 200 million triplets.

Gina from Frodsham, Cheshire, said: "When I found out I was pregnant, I had a feeling I might be having twins. Early on I had visual migraines and insomnia. When went for our 13-week scan, straight away they said there were twins. But 20 minutes in they saw a third baby. I was in pure shock."

Gina wondered how she would manage looking after three babies, from feeding them to being out and about. She researched triplet pregnancies on Google and read about the possible risks, something she says she wouldn’t do again.

The rest of Gina’s pregnancy was up and down. She was carefully monitored but found the process very emotional. The couple was offered a reduction – when expectants are asked if they want to reduce the number of foetuses to avoid potential high risks during pregnancy.

Gina said: "No-one had told me about a reduction before so it was a bit of a shock. The babies were healthy so we chose not to go for it."

Gina was initially told she was having two identical girls sharing a placenta and a boy with his own placenta. She spent time preparing for the girls and boy to arrive.

It was hard to get my head around having a triplet pregnancy. What helped was trying to envision naming and talking to them. I thought about my future with them. That really helped me come to terms with it.

Life changed when doctors revealed at the 24-week scan that Gina’s babies were actually all boys, sharing one placenta.

She said: "In my head I was having two girls and a boy. I had thought of names and imagined them. I had to grieve the loss of the two girls. This is where Twins Trust really helped me. I felt terrible I had this gender disappointment. I should be really happy to have three babies. Twins Trust felt like a safe environment for me to express this and gave me really good advice. They were so helpful with the triplet pathway in hospital. I knew how lucky I was to have three boys and the main thing was they were healthy and I was going to get them through the pregnancy."

A c-section was planned for 33 weeks but at 31 weeks, Gina’s waters broke and she went into labour. On the night of a bright pink supermoon, she arrived at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

"In theatre, the babies were all born at the same time. They got them out as fast they could. Jaxson was still in his amniotic sac."

After birth, Gina stayed in hospital for a week due to issues with her stomach size after a triplet pregnancy and then needing a few days to be able to walk again.

She said: "The pregnancy was a rollercoaster of emotions. I was excited about having them but didn’t know what it was going to be like once I had them.

"I didn’t have that immediate rush of emotions. This sounds terrible but I think it’s important to say. I loved them but didn’t have that overwhelming feeling of love. That took a little bit of time. It did come. I love them more than anything in the world but it scared me that I didn’t immediately have those feelings that people talk about."

Now, the triplets – Jimmy, Jensen and Jaxson are 18 months old – and Gina and Craig are loving family life. Gina has found a wealth of supportive triplets’ parents on Instagram via her @the_cheshire_triplets account.

She said: "They’re thriving. They’ve got such fantastic personalities. They’re making each other laugh. I find it so interesting to watch them interact with each other. Every day is amazing with them."