rgu - Mum of triplets struggles through to graduate

Iboro Edem (29), who has successfully completed her course despite giving birth to triplets only four months ago, will graduate at 2.30pm on Thursday 4 December with an MSc in International Marketing from the Robert Gordon University

Iboro, from Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, originally studied Communication Arts and worked as a Client Service Executive at LTC-JWT Advertising until 2005 when she joined Virgin Nigeria Airways as a Marketing Coordinator, responsible for branding and marketing communication. Iboro said, "I wanted to add more value to my CV and pursue new challenging responsibilities in multinational companies, so enrolled for the Masters at the Robert Gordon University."

Iboro and her husband Emmanuel Jude had to put all their savings towards her studies. Indeed, they were both accepted to study in the UK, but because they did not have enough finances to study simultaneously, he had to defer his offer while he continued to work in Nigeria to support her.

Five months before Iboro began the course in September last year, she sadly suffered a miscarriage when she was 20 weeks pregnant. She continues, "It was a very traumatic period for us." However, after one of her husband’s visits to her in November 2007, Iboro found out she was pregnant again.

Early in her pregnancy she went for a scan and discovered she was expecting triplets. She continues, "It was really shocking because there is no history of multiple births in either of our families. However, we accepted it as God's blessing for our previous loss."

Iboro continues, "It was not easy attending classes and carrying so much weight around. Sitting up to study and doing my coursework was very uncomfortable. I could not put in as much effort as I would have liked to and had to seek assistance from friends and lecturers to help with such things as borrowing heavy books from the library. I had to deal with fatigue, swollen feet, and pelvic pain from the weight. It was a relief after the second semester since I did not have to go out every day to attend lectures and could work on my dissertation from home."

At 34 weeks Iboro had to be admitted to hospital for close monitoring in case she went into early labour, with the target date for an elective c-section at 36 weeks so that the babies would be able to survive without neonatal care. At 35 weeks and six days, on 24 July, Iboro gave birth to three healthy baby boys Nathaniel, Johnathan and Ethan.

Iboro's mum came over to Aberdeen to help with the babies and stayed so that Iboro could complete her dissertation. She continues, "Being a go-getter, I just had to keep going with my dissertation even though I knew I was straining my health and was not giving the babies all the attention they required. I had the option of deferring but I chose to continue and, barely a month after giving birth, I returned to complete my studies. Even though the babies would be more settled when they are a few months older, my mum would not be here to help out and that would mean incurring expenses on child care.

"There were days when I barely wrote a sentence because I was shuttling from one baby to the other; however I made sure that I worked every other day. Most times, while my mum held two babies, I held one with one arm while typing my dissertation with the other!

"I was given an extension for my dissertation submission and was determined to meet this deadline. The babies needed to feed every three hours and just when we managed to feed the last one, we realised it was almost time for the next feed. So, I had to eat, scribble some words, and prepare to feed them again. I hardly ever had three hours straight sleep at night, and of course there was hardly any sleep during the day.

Regardless of how hectic it's been, studying here has been really worthwhile. Meeting people from different parts of the world and learning more about their cultures has been quite an experience. I thank my friends and lecturers, who were very helpful and supportive, without whom things would have been almost impossible. I thank God, my darling husband, our triplets, my family and in-laws for their love and support."

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nj.com - Report links estrogen levels to joint replacement surgery for women

Women who've had multiple births, are on hormone replacement therapy or underwent early puberty are at significantly higher risk for knee or hip replacement surgery, reports one of the largest studies to look at the relationship between reproductive issues and joint replacement surgery.

The findings, published on-line today ahead of print in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, are based on the experiences of some 1.3 million middle-aged women in the United Kingdom. Researchers at the University of Oxford tracked the women beginning in 1996 for about six years -- from around the age of 50 upwards -- to see if they had a knee or hip replaced due to osteoarthritis, an inflammatory joint disease.

A little more than 12,000 required a hip replacement by the end of the study period and just under 10,000 needed a knee replacement.

After quizzing the women on how when they had their first and last periods, how many children they had and whether they had used oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), several patterns emerged.

If a woman started menstruation before the age of 11, her probability of having both hip and knee replacement surgery increased between 9 and 15 percent, the researchers found. Every successive birth increased the risk of a hip replacement by 2 percent and a knee replacement by 8 percent.

While previous use of oral contraceptives did not appear to have an effect, current use of hormone replacement therapy boosted the chances of a hip replacement by 38 percent and of a knee replacement by 58 percent, the study found.

"These findings, along with other evidence, strongly suggest that the female sex hormone, estrogen, plays a role in the development of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee and the subsequent need for joint replacement," lead study author Bette Liu, of the University of Oxford, said in an e-mail to The Star-Ledger.

Estrogen is a female sex hormone that controls the reproductive cycle, and prepares the body for pregnancy.

Liu cautioned that the is evidence is not strong enough to recommend women change their use of HRT. In fact, the study suggests that such "non-biological factors" as women having greater access to health services if they are on hormonal therapy could be a factor in them having joint replacement surgery.

Overall, women have a higher incidence of osteoarthritis, in particular of the knee, when compared to men, the study notes.

timesonline - Best of Times, Worst of Times: Jackie Clune

Jackie Clune, 42, is an actress and stand-up comedian. Three years ago she gave birth to triplets: Frank, Thady and Orla. Here she recalls her shock at learning she was pregnant, and how she coped with their battle to survive

I didn’t ever think I was going to have children. It wasn’t something I yearned for. Then I met Richard and suddenly felt very settled. I had my first child, Saoirse, when I was 37 — a dream baby. Then, 11 months later, I fell pregnant again. Rather casually, I left the first scan until 14 weeks. When they told me there were three, I was absolutely horrified. But then this innate Pollyanna sensibility kicked in and I thought: “It’ll be all right.” I’m not a worrier, which is lucky, because I could have worried myself to death over this. I phoned the Twins and Multiple Birth Association. The first thing the woman said was “Congratulations, you’re a very special lady,” which appealed to the diva in me enormously.

I tottered into my appointment with a foetal medicine expert saying: “I’m having triplets! I’m special!” He then explained all the risks: placental failure, miscarriage, chromosomal abnormality, early labour and the possibility of them not surviving their first few weeks of life. After that I didn’t feel special any more: I felt like a cat producing a litter.

It took months to get my head around it. We didn’t have any money. We’d just bought a big house in north London and didn’t know how we were going to pay the mortgage. I was doing bits of stand-up, but our income was pretty low. By 20 weeks I looked full-term. By week 30 I was hiring mobility scooters at Asda.

I couldn’t get upstairs, couldn’t sit, couldn’t stand, couldn’t sleep. It was just atrocious. I begged to be delivered at 31 weeks because I couldn’t breathe.

I felt as though I had a family of labradors sitting on my chest, and it was scaring me. By the time I delivered at 35 weeks, my stomach measured 55 inches and I’d lost my sense of humour completely.

There were 20 people in the operating theatre for my caesarean. Boy number one, Frank, was whisked past me to the Nicu [neonatal intensive care unit]. Then his identical twin, Thady, disappeared. Their sister, Orla, the smallest, was fine, but by 10 o’clock that evening, 12 hours later, I still hadn’t seen the boys. I’d been told a day in the womb is equal to a week in an incubator, but it hadn’t hit me what that actually meant.

Finally, a paediatrician said the boys’ lungs were very immature and they’d both been intubated. When I eventually saw them they had wires everywhere and huge tubes stuck down their gullets. At first we were told they’d be there for a few hours, which turned into weeks. The doctors tried to take them off their respirators, but they couldn’t cope. It was days before I even touched them.

I’d shuffle round to deliver expressed breast milk, and when I came back Orla would be lying silently in the dark, which made me cry. It was as if she’d got used to the idea that she had to share me.

After a couple of weeks the boys’ nasal tubes were taken out for a few minutes to let me breast-feed. Then, one day when I’d just fed Thady, I turned round to pick up Frank and I heard a nurse behind me say: “Call a doctor!”

In those seconds Thady had stopped breathing and was changing colour from pink to blue. He was rushed away and I watched as if it were an episode of ER.

It felt like an out-of-body experience.

I’d felt guilty I hadn’t bonded with the boys, but in that instant I was so upset and shocked and shaken, the floodgates of maternal love opened. The Nicu was a place of extraordinary emotional extremes. One night, a mum lost a baby. I was awake and heard her screaming, and In the morning the cot next to Frank’s was empty. The other extreme was the baby born on Christmas Day weighing under 500 grams. He’d been there five months and I never once saw anyone visit. A nurse said: “Sometimes the mothers never come back.”

When I brought them home, people said: “How will you manage three newborns and a toddler?” But having a five-year-old and three three-year-olds is much harder. I’ve also done a few big runs: Mamma Mia! when they were seven months old, and now Billy Elliot, and I’m pathologically tired. The boys battle constantly. It can’t be easy having a brother who looks just like you and who has the toy you want. I’ve tried to be a bit existential about it, but you still want to brain them. When I was pregnant they were all crunched together, nose to cheek, elbows sticking in each other’s bums, and they’re still like that — they move in a huddle, battling like mad. Thady is the most difficult. He screams and cries and throws himself on the floor and it’s hard not to get wound up — he really does push you over the edge. But somehow I’m able to take a step back, because everything that happened informs my relationship with him. I remember the day I saw him nearly die and something in me goes: “It’s okay. He’s having a tantrum, but he’s here.”

Jackie Clune is now appearing as Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot: The Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London

peterboroughtoday - Special day for city's three tiny miracles

THREE tiny miracles who made the headlines because of their 200 million to one odds were christened in a city church yesterday.

Identical triplets Gabriella, Olivia and Alessia were baptised on Sunday afternoon at St Peter and All Souls’ Church.

Proud mum and dad Carmela Testa (23) and fiance Richard Rees (23) were joined by dozens of their family and friends for the service in the Geneva Street Catholic church.

The triplets were born in Peterborough District Hospital on January 9 this year, seven weeks premature and weighed between 3lb 4 and 3lb 10oz at birth. After yesterday’s service, the parents, from Walkers Way, Bretton, spoke of the joy the three girls had brought them.

Carmela, a midwife at Peterborough District Hospital, said: “It has been a very hectic year. But we come from an extended family and our parents and other relatives have been a great support to us.”

And Richard, a vocational coach, admitted the three were “a real handful, but very enjoyable”.

He said: “Getting them all outside the house has been a bit of a challenge, and getting them to settle at night can be tough, but it has been an amazing nine months.”

Father David Jennings, who conducted the service, said: “This is a unique celebration for the parish. Identical triplets are a first for me, and I think for the parish and the city as well.”

Giving birth to naturally-conceived identical triplets is so rare, some experts have said it might happen in just one in 200 million cases.

The triplets caught the public’s imagination after The Evening Telegraph reported their birth in April, and they were featured in national newspapers and TV news reports.

eadt - Miracle triplets enjoy 9th birthday

NINE years ago, the birth of Jane and Mark Ingram's tiny triplets sent shockwaves through the medical world.Although Mary and Olivia had grown naturally in their mother's womb, sibling Ronan developed ectopically in Mrs Ingram's fallopian tube, somehow creating his own womb and blood supply.Little Ronan beat odds of 100million to one in surviving.He and his sisters have now celebrated their ninth birthdays together - something that would have defied all medical odds back in 1999.
Picture at just six months old. L-R: Olivia, Ronan, Mary Parents Jane and Mark have revealed how the traumatic birth of their young son has made the family realise the important things in life.And while all three display their own individual and unique personalities, the bond between them has put aside any adversity already experienced in their young lives.Speaking from their home in Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds, Mrs Ingram said: “We often think back to what happened and we just thank our lucky stars they are all here and healthy.“The whole family is so close. The older three children are very protective of the younger ones and I think we all have been through so much that it has brought us closer together. It has certainly made you realise what is important in life.”
Ronan, Olivia (left) and Mary The birth of the triplets made national headlines in 1999 when Ronan defied all medical odds when he survived despite developing in his mother's fallopian tube as an ectopic pregnancy and creating his own womb with his own blood supply.The birth was described as a miracle of modern medicine.Experts at King's College Hospital in London worked out how best to deliver the babies with a team of 26 on hand to assist with a complicated Caesarean section.Unsurprisingly, Ronan, Mary and Olivia were all tiny at birth weighing 2lbs 1oz, 2lbs 4oz and 2lbs 10oz respectively and needing round the clock care to nurse them through their first few days. Now the trio have brushed aside their precarious births to become normal, healthy children. The couple, who also has two older sons and an older daughter, said the triplets enjoyed their ninth birthday earlier this month and were now looking forward to Christmas.Mrs Ingram said: “Although there is this really close bond, they each have their own personalities now. Ronan loves his stationery, Olivia is into animals and art and she recently had work published in a children's book at her after school club, while Mary is typically girly.“They are all fit and healthy which is the main thing. They had great birthdays but they are not spoilt - only showered in love.”

guardian - France: Woman, 59, is oldest mother of triplets

A woman in France has become the oldest known mother of triplets after giving birth at 59, reigniting the debate about late pregnancy and so-called fertility tourism.
The woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, is of Asian origin and had fertility treatment in Vietnam. She gave birth by caesarean section at the weekend, the Cochin maternity hospital in Paris said yesterday. The triplets, two boys and a girl who weighed 2.3kg (5.1lb), 2.1kg and 2.4kg, were described as being in good health.
But fertility experts said it could not be taken as proof of the success of late pregnancies. It is illegal for French IVF clinics to treat women deemed too old to reproduce naturally. The age limit is generally 42, and the number of embryos used is limited to lessen the risk of multiple births.
"[Fertility laws] are there to treat infertility," Professor François Thépot, medical director of France's Biomedicine Agency, told Agence France-Presse. "We do not want to turn them into a new means of procreation for people who would like to have children out of the natural context."
The trend for women to seek IVF treatment in countries with less stringent regulations - dubbed fertility tourism - has prompted concern from specialists. A woman of 44 who had IVF in Greece against the advice of her French doctors has been in a coma since June after giving birth to healthy triplets in Angers.
"The complications are manageable until about 42, 43 years old," said Professor René Frydman, the doctor behind France's first test tube baby, in 1982. "But after that you're going into the danger zone, in particular around 60. The heart just isn't made for it,"
The previous oldest mother of triplets is thought to be an unidentified Italian woman of 57.

dailyrecord - Mum blasts bus company after being told baby triplets can't ride for free

A MUM who was told she must pay to take one of her baby triplets on a bus has accused bosses of discrimination.
Carolyn Armstrong says she was "outraged" when drivers told her only two children under five could travel free.
They refused to back down even though the family do not use a single seat and Carolyn already pays for six-year-old son Euan.
Full-time mum Carolyn, 43, parks her double buggy in the wheelchair bay at the front of the bus and stands with the third triplet in a carrier on her back.
She gets off the bus if a wheelchair user requires the space.
But she says the only reply she has received to her complaints from Lothian Buses - in which Edinburgh City Council are the major shareholders - has been a copy of their policy.
Most other firms, including First Bus, say drivers are encouraged to use discretion when it comes to babies. They say mothers need not pay unless the children are occupying seats.
Former British Airways purser Carolyn, from Corstorphine, Edinburgh, said her husband Ricky, 49, a finance manager for Alliance Boots Pharmacies, often works away.
That leaves her to cope with 21-month-old triplets Ben, Laura and Grace and Euan alone.
She said: "I have always used the bus to get into the city centre - the number 26. But when I took the triplets I was shocked to be asked to pay extra money.
"I pay for Euan. If my babies were walking about and sitting on seats then I would have no problem paying for them too.
"But two stay in the double buggy while I have the other baby in a backpack on my back while I stand. They don't charge if you have a rucksack on your back.
"It is hard enough being in charge of triplet babies and I find myself limited in what I can do and where we can go now.
"I've written to Lothian Buses on several occasions but they just quote their policy. Some of the drivers have been quite rude."
She added that the firm's policy was "blatant discrimination".
A spokesman for Lothian Buses said: "Our conditions clearly state two children under the age of five can travel free with every full farepaying passenger. Additional children pay the child fare of 60p."
A spokeswoman for the Twins and Multiple Births Association said: "This is shocking. It is difficult enough to get out when you have twins, triplets or more in the first place."

evening telegraph - triplets bowling them over

At just eight years old the Hicks triplets are already taking on all-comers on the bowling green.
Katie, Matthew and Oliver Hicks have become a regular fixture at Irchester Bowls Club since taking up the sport five years ago and are now able to compete officially as full members.And although the game is one normally associated with older players, the youngsters are a popular sight for club members.The trio's grandmother Janet Mears said: "When they were in their prams we used to take them down to watch the bowling and they loved it right from the word go."They wanted to try it when they were toddlers. The bowlers down there gave them small bowls but they were a bit too big for their hands."We have just bought them a set of bowls designed for children of their age. Everybody down at the club loves talking to them, and I think it is nice that they are getting involved with the older generation in this way."The Evening Telegraph first reported on the triplets in 2003, when they were three years old and just as enthusiastic about the game as they are now.Mum Claire Hicks said: "The triplets have always gone down to the club with my dad. They are very keen to do it properly when they are old enough."They are really good kids, most of the time, and it's nice that they can do this together."Katie said: "I enjoy bowling. "I like my turquoise ball, and it is good fun with my brothers."The children are not the only young fans of bowls. Last week the Evening Telegraph reported that pupils from Brooke Weston CTC in Corby were invited to try the game by members of the Stewarts & Lloyds Bowling Club in Occupation Road. The taster has seen many of the pupils pledge to take up the game as a hobby.Tony Alcock MBE, chief executive of Bowls England, said: "It is absolutely great to hear that these children are enjoying bowling so much."Many young people are playing the sport these days and there are a lot of opportunities for young people."I have been at the All England Under 18s Ladies Final in Leamington Spa, and one day I hope to see the triplets at similar events."
The full article contains 394 words and appears in n/a newspaper.

this is wiltshire - All good things come in threes

A COUPLE who were told their premature triplets stood little chance of survival are about to welcome home the first of their miracle babies.
Amina and Maher Amawi, of Cumberland Road, Old Walcot, Swindon, went through six rounds of IVF fertility treatment in seven years before Amina finally fell pregnant last October.
But she unexpectedly went into labour while visiting her sister in Luton in March and the triplets were born at 24 weeks, weighing between 1lbs 4ozs and 1lb 8ozs.
Doctors warned the couple the babies were unlikely to live for more than a few hours and, even if they did, they would all be severely disabled.
Now, against all the odds, the first of the children - Layla, who now weighs 5lb 12ozs - is about to be discharged from Great Western Hospital.
And her siblings, brother Zayn and sister Tara, are likely to follow within weeks.
Amina, 31, said: "We know we have got our work cut out, but we are so excited for our babies to come home and for us to finally be a family.
"Nothing much has seemed real for the past few months. We've been on an emotional rollercoaster I can't even begin to describe.
"But the scariest parts are hopefully over now, and we have our children. We are determined to be the best parents we can be."
Maher, 36, a BT engineer, added: "The biggest shock was the size of them when they were born. Tara was the smallest - her head was the size of an egg and her whole body fitted into the palm of my hand.
"The first 10 days were the most critical and we had to take things hour by hour, then day by day, then week by week.
"We were elated, but it was terrifying at the same time."
A low point came when Zayn suffered a severe bleed on both sides of his brain at three days old. Medics said he was badly brain damaged, that he would never be able to walk and would probably be blind.
They recommended switching off his life support machine, but Amina and Maher refused.
"Call it a mother's instinct, but I believe he will be fine. Yes, he will have issues, and he will never be 100 per cent.
"But I am staying positive. An eye doctor has already told us he has some sight, and he can grip our fingers. We have even seen him holding up his own head."
In their four months of life, all three babies have undergone heart operations to close a valve. Zayn has also had a device fitted in his skull to drain off fluid.
Layla and Tara will both need oxygen for a while after coming home, and are expected to develop more slowly than full-term babies. Otherwise, no other health problems have yet been detected.
"Only time will tell if they have any other problems, but they have already overcome so much to be here," said Amina.
"They are real fighters. We can't wait for them to come home."

thisisnottingham - Colwick parents hit jackpot with triplets

Life changed beyond belief the day Sze Kane gave birth. After ten years trying for a baby - and on her tenth IVF attempt - she found out she was having triplets.She discovered the startling news during a six week scan."They saw three heartbeats - that was quite a shock," said the former buyer for the Co-op.Sze, 48, and husband Jim, 57, set about buying three of everything - cots, car seats, high chairs and so on.The non-identical triplets were born at Nottingham City Hospital by Caesarean section at 32 weeks.Jak was first, weighing 3lb 12oz, Megan next, at 4lb 1oz and Joshua last, at 3lb 4oz.The operating theatre was packed as each baby had to have its own midwife, paediatrician and neo-natal nurse, in addition to the surgeon, anaesthetist and all the other health professionals.The triplets spent two weeks in the neo-natal unit before being allowed home to Colwick - and that's when the enormity of having triplets really struck the couple.Help from the authorities is only available for quads, so the couple got through the endless feeding and changing routine with help from Sze's mum, Jean Lam.Sze (pronounced Sue) said: "They needed feeding every three hours and it took around two-and-a-half hours to feed and change them, giving us 30 minutes between feeds."You had to try and get them in as tight a routine as possible or the small gap you've had disappeared and you'd get no sleep."The triplets got through 150 nappies a week and 18 bottles of milk a day, requiring two sterilisers and two kettles to keep up with demand."It was exhausting but exhilarating," said Sze."We spent ten years trying for a family so we really did hit the jackpot getting the triplets and no matter how hard it gets we would not change it for anything."The sudden expansion of the family meant that the Kanes had to have an extension built and buy a bigger vehicle to accommodate three car seats.And the 4ft-wide pram made getting out and about a real challenge."The first time I ventured out to Broadmarsh I couldn't get in the lift. Even at hospital appointments at the QMC I couldn't get it in the lift," said Sze.Food shopping was another problem. Asda was the only supermarket at the time which had a trolley suitable for three babies. Morrison's only had room for two, so the third baby's car seat had to go inside the trolley, leaving no space for food.A holiday in Majorca when the triplets were 18-months-old presented another problem."My mum had to come too because there had to be one adult per child on the plane," said Sze.They family usually opt for self-catering accommodation because few hotels have a family room big enough for two adults and three children.Jim, who used to work for a funeral company, quit work to become a house husband so Sze could return to work but when she was made redundant she looked after the children while Jim found work in a shop.The triplets are now five and last September started at St John the Baptist Primary in Colwick.They are all in the same class and because it is a small school are likely to remain together until they move to secondary school.Sze said: "They are quite insular in a way because they have got each other."When Megan broke her arm and didn't go to school for a few days the boys were upset."They always have someone to play with - but they still get bored."All three have friends for tea quite often."I do feel conscious when they go somewhere else as people who have one child are not geared up to their noise level," said Sze.But while it is treble the work, it's also three times the pleasure.Each child has their own distinct personality.Jak is the bossy one, Megan is typically girly and Joshua is the most sociable.The family are involved with Nottingham Trent Twins and Multiple Births Club and have made many friends, through the mother and baby groups and outings.Sze said: "Given the time we spent trying, having one baby would have been beautiful but finding we were having three was worth all that heartache."It's a very special thing for us."

gazette and herald - Triplets split up by a change of schools

BUSY mum Debbie Sawyer is full of apprehension once again as her triplets start secondary school.
The Gazette has followed the trials and tribulations of Charlotte, Katherine and Eddy since they were born in 1997.
The 11-year-olds are now preparing for their secondary education in September.
Mrs Sawyer, 46, of Sheldon Road, Chippenham, said: "The last time we did a piece for the paper was when the triplets were just starting Ivy Lane Primary School, which seems like a lifetime ago.
"The past six years have flown by and I cannot believe I am getting ready to wave them off to school again.
"We have had a very busy six years and the triplets have really developed into their own characters.
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"We never really planned for triplets - we just wanted a fourth child, and that child turned out to be three instead of one.
"I think the triplets are really looking forward to secondary school, just not as much as the summer holiday stretched out before them."
Mrs Sawyer has three more children - Harriet, 13, Georgina, 15 and Martin, 16.
The triplets are not going to the same secondary school.
Charlotte and Katherine will go to Hardenhuish with Georgina and Harriet and Eddy will go to Sheldon with Martin.
Mrs Sawyer said: "This will be the first time in their lives that they will go their separate ways - but it has been totally their choice.
"I said they could have full control over which school they wanted to go to and this is what they have chosen.
"I think our family was the first to have six children at the same school at the same time when they were all at Ivy Lane.
"All of my children are so widely different and I think the fact that the triplets are not identical really helps."
Mrs Sawyer, who works as a carer at the Bluebell Lodge care home, and van driver husband Colin, 49, admit that their lives are far from peaceful but they say they would not want anything to change.
Mrs Sawyer said: "We are one big happy family and I think the fact that the children don't have to attend the same school and remain so close speaks volumes.
"I am proud of all my kids and they are a credit to me."

Foxs News - Grandmother, 47, Gives Birth to Naturally Conceived Triplets

Janelle Perry, a grandmother from Queensland, Australia, has given birth to naturally conceived triplet boys in a ‘one-in-a-million’ delivery at Brisbane's Mater Mothers' Hospital.
Janelle and husband Robert's tiny trio - Cooper, Kyle and Jordan - were born at 34 weeks' gestation by caesarean section last week.
Doctors are "99.9 percent certain" the boys are identical.Perry, who turns 47 next week, now has eight children. She said she is adamant that is enough.Perry has four children in their 20s from a previous marriage, a daughter, Rebecca, 4, with Robert, and two grandchildren.
The Perrys, of Logan, south of Brisbane, sold all their baby things last October after trying unsuccessfully for two years to have more children.
A doctor had given Perry a five percent chance of having another child naturally.
"We thought: 'Oh well. It'll probably never happen'. We'd sort of given up," Perry said."Rebecca kept telling me in November: 'You've got three babies in your tummy, Mummy - one for me, one for Dad and one for you'. I thought: 'No way' and told her: ‘There are no babies in there'. Then, in December, I found out I was pregnant."

She said she is still coming to terms with the challenge of having identical triplets.
"I'll probably have to use different colored nail polish on them to tell them apart,” she added. “I don't want to get them mixed up. We've got to get a whiteboard so we can write down who's been fed and how much. Getting into a routine, that's the main thing."
Robert Perry, a crane operator, has taken a full year of paternity leave to help care for the boys in their three-bedroom home.
Queensland Fertility Group's David Molloy said the chance of having identical triplets at 46 was "probably the same as winning Gold Lotto."
Doctors believe the Perry babies are almost certainly monochorionic triamniotic triplets, meaning they are from one egg and sperm which split in the first few days after fertilization.
Cooper weighed 3 pounds, 4 ounces; Kyle weighed three pounds, 6 ounces; and Jordan weighed three pounds, five ounces.
They will have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks, doctors said.

ITV: Identical Triplets - Their Secret World

To be an identical triplet is special: on average just four sets are born each year in the UK. To the rest of us, their world seems unimaginable, even bizarre: three identical people who started life as one fertilised egg before it separated and three individuals grew.
Identical Triplets: Their Secret World journeys into the world of the identical triplet to find out what's unique about nature's own remarkable clones. Aside from their looks, just how similar are identical triplets in other ways? We meet four sets of triplets, and through stunts, tests and investigation learn about intense competition, extreme sibling rivalry, and whether nature or nurture has shaped their personalities and desires. And in an extraordinary experiment with one set of triplets, we explore how in tune their emotions are to see whether identical triplets could possibly share a sixth sense, or even Extra Sensory Perception, which allows them to secretly communicate. Meet some experts - Doris, Gladys and Alice, all aged 80 – Britain's oldest set of identical triplets. So who's the boss? The Suttons boys - Ed, Craig and Scott - couldn't be closer. The 21-year-old triplets live together in the same house and form a band called the Noise Next Door. But who can tell them apart? Even their mum sometimes has difficulty. And the Elvin girls from Edinburgh: Lorna, Leanne and Lindsey. When these girls are getting ready to party it's every triplet for herself. Blonde, tall and stunning, the Humphris triplets Anne, Libby and Katy (22) have always attracted attention. When they were 18 they were spotted at the Clothes Show and snapped up for a career in modelling. Now the girls are getting used to living independent lives, though separation of the threesome is still an emotional event. The Elvin girls and Sutton boys take part in a fun first experiment: can the triplets outfox photographers who believe they're actually shooting one person when there are three of them? Next a series of physical tests explore how the two sets of triplets fare competing physically against each other. And as Katy Humphris goes travelling for an extended period, we hear what it's like to be separated from her identical two sisters. And do they fancy the same people? Identical Triplets: Their Secret World compares the triplets' body language on a series of speed dates before setting up the ultimate prank by a set of triplets on another set of triplets – a date that swaps the Elvin and Sutton triplets around without each other knowing.
The Suttons boys - Ed, Craig and Scott - couldn't be closer. The 21-year-old triplets live together in the same house and form a band called the Noise Next Door. But who can tell them apart? Even their mum sometimes has difficulty. Finally, when the triplets' brain activity is monitored, as well as their heart rates and other physical signs, how emotionally alike are they, and could they communicate in a way no other humans can? Experts including world triplet expert Prof. Nancy Segal, psychologists and brain activity specialists see if identical triplets really can communicate by other, unknown means - in an experiment on the Sutton boys which has some unexpected results. Identical Triplets: Their Secret World is a Hart Davies TV Production for ITV1 and is produced and directed by Stephen Finnigan. Monday, 23 June 2008, 9:00PM - 10:00PM

telegraph.co.uk - Midwife gives birth to identical triplets

A midwife has beaten odds of a million to one to give birth to identical triplets.
Carmela Testa, 23, gave birth to Gabriella, Alessia and Olivia, who were all naturally conceived, seven week prematurely.
The proud parents with their identical triplets Olivia, Gabriella and Alessia
Identical triplets are so unusual that doctors are divided over how often they occur.
Some research has even suggested that the odds are as high as 200 million to one, but the UK’ s Twins and Multiple Births Association said one in a million was a more realistic figure.
The girls were kept on an incubator in Peterborough Maternity Unit where they built up their strength until they were taken home to the house Miss Testa shares with the proud father, her fiancé Richard Rees, 22.
As a midwife, Miss Testa was aware just how exceptional her pregnancy was. ”I found out at my 12-week scan I was having triplets,” Miss Testa said.

"I knew they would be identical because there was just one placenta, so they were from the same egg.
"I was very shocked. They weren’t planned. They were born on January 9, two days after my birthday so they were a lovely present.”
There was a family history of multiple births, but her were the first triplets.
"I’m quite small - only 5ft - so at the unit, they joked that out of all the midwives, it would have to be me that gave birth to triplets,” she said.
"Everyone was great there. My three close friends delivered each of the babies.”
Non-identical triplets are far more common than identical ones with around 160 born in Britain each year. Non-identical triplets occur when two or three different eggs are fertilized by different sperm.
Identical triplets are caused by one fertilized egg splitting into three genetically indistinguishable eggs.
Another method of producing non-identical triplets is when three separate sperm fertilise three different eggs.
Triplets of this type became increasingly common during IVF.
The 15-week old triplets were tiny when they were born in January weighing between 3lb 4 and 3lb 10.
Telling them apart is a challenge.
Mr Rees, a vocational coach, said: “Olivia has a strawberry birthmark on her neck, Gabriella is a little bit smaller and Alessia has a sharper cry.”

Newsquest Essex network - And triplets make 8!

A TRIO of babies was the last thing Michele Campbell and husband Robert were expecting to see when she went for her scan.
Michele and Robert Campbell, who are both 41, already had five children - the youngest being 12.
Michele said: "I had been feeling ill but to be told I was expecting triplets was a total surprise.
"I could see my husband looking at the scan and saw his facial expression but could not make it out."
She added: "We did not expect it at all. It was quite funny. She asked if I had had IVF. I said No, I have five children'.
"I suddenly thought, it's twins but she said, no it is triplets. Robert was laughing but I wasn't! It took me four days to get over the shock."
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Michele had to be hospitalised when she was 24 weeks pregnant and the babies were delivered by Caesarian section at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge at 30 weeks - ten weeks early.
Sophie weighed the most at 3lbs and 2ozs followed by Daniel, who weighed 2lbs and 151/2 ozs and little Arthur, who weighed 2lbs and 5ozs.
The babies were taken to the intensive care unit in Addenbrookes before being transferred to Colchester General Hospital's special care baby unit.
The babies were transferred at separate times as their health improved, but it meant them being in different hospitals at times.
The triplets were born on November 6 and Sophie was allowed home on Christmas Eve with Daniel going home before the new year.
Arthur, who was the smallest, was the third one home.
Michele, who is a nurse, said taking care of the triplets was hard work but she said she was getting help from her other children, Rachel, who is 19 and attends Reading University, Joseph, who is 18 and at Colchester Sixth Form College, Edward, who is 16 and is studying to be a chef at Colchester Institute, James, 14, and Anne, 12, who are students at St Benedict's College.
Michele, of North Station Road, Colchester, said: "Individually the triplets are all good. They are healthy apart from the usual things premature babies have."
She added: "All the children have been fantastic. They are absolutely marvellous.
"With Rachel being at university, it is like my right arm has gone but the boys have gone above and beyond - they are so good with them."

Moved triplets heading for home

Triplets born after their mother was airlifted from Aberdeen to Liverpool due to a lack of space on maternity wards are heading home.
Jennifer Gray, 28, was transferred after staff at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital discovered there was not enough space for her babies.
Ms Gray was taken to Liverpool Women's hospital where she had two boys and a girl, who were said to be doing well.
They were flying back to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital on Tuesday.
Chloe, Declan and Kyle will require further treatment.
'Get back'
Ms Gray and her partner Lee Brown said they were relieved the babies were doing well, but would consider lodging a complaint with NHS Grampian.
Ms Gray told the BBC Scotland news website: "Me and the two boys are flying back to Aberdeen, and then Chloe with Lee.
"They are doing really well, but I will be glad to get back to Aberdeen."
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman said: "As discussed with both parents, Jennifer was transferred with the safety of her three babies in mind. The Aberdeen unit is busy and multiple pregnancies inevitably involve higher risk and, in this case, three available cots.
"The neonatal intensive care units are in daily contact about cot availability, and transfers do take place in the interests of safety. Many transfers are for medical reasons, where the baby requires specialist care only available elsewhere."