Port aux Basques family welcomes 'Irish triplets'

You've probably heard of Irish twins,but a Port aux Basques couple can now say they have Irish triplets, after their twins were born in St. John's just nine months after their second son was born.

Samantha Palmer and Brad Stubbington are now the proud parents of four children, the newest of them Eli Daniel and Mia Grace having arrived on Nov. 4.

That's less than a year after their son Grayson was born, making the three children close enough in age that they'll all be in the same grade when they start school.

"It's basically going to be like triplets," Palmer said.

The couple's oldest child, Malcolm, is three-and-a-half years old.

Eli and Mia were born at seven months' gestation, so their parents are currently staying at Ronald McDonald House in St. John's while their twins are being cared for at the neonatal intensive-care unit at the Health Sciences Centre nearby.

The babies need some more time to develop, but are otherwise healthy and doing well, Palmer told CBC'sOn The Goon Tuesday.

"They're good, they're just a little small," she said.

"Need to figure out how to breathe on their own, but they're working on it."

A world record?

Palmer had heard of Irish twins an oldcolloquial term for twosiblings born within a year of each other.

Irish triplets are less common, but even that is usually meant to refer to three siblings born within three years.

Palmer isn't sure if a case like hers, with three siblings born within a single calendar year from two pregnancies, is unheard of, but as best she can tell it's at least rare.

"To have two different pregnancies and have them all three born within that period of time, Ihaven't really heard much of it," she said.

Palmer said she was surprised when she started feeling ill only six weeks after Grayson who was seven weeks premature himself due to pre-eclampsiawas born, but figured they could adjust to another baby so soon after their second child was born.

A bigger shock came when Palmer had her first ultrasound and was informed that there were two babies on the way.

"Honestly, Ithink we were kind of just staring at the ultrasound for a while," she said.

Excited to get all four children together

There are challenges ahead, Palmer acknowledged, but she already feels better than she did in the difficult later months of her pregnancy.

"I'm feeling better now that I'm not carrying twins," said Palmer, who was discharged from the hospital Tuesday.

"The last couple months have been extremely hard."

She looks forward to the arrival of her other two children from Port aux Basques, where the family relocated from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in August, while her twins are cared for in St. John's.

Four children so close in age wasn't necessarily the plan and Palmer, who is 20, said people are sometimes judgmentalthat the young couple has multiple children.

"We've been through a lot, but the best thing we got from all of it is the kids," she said.

But Palmer said if she had more than two, she hoped it would be four. Now that she has exactlythat many kids ranging in age from newborn to three and a half, she's excited to havechildren who will attend school and play sports together.

"We were good with two, but now we've got four," she said.

"The bigger the better."

With files from On The Go

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