REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Saturday, July 31, 2004

MOST people would be exhausted at the thought of raising four sons under the age of three, but not Rachel Dale.

She and husband Trevor, who already had an active toddler Ethan, happily welcomed three new additions to their brood with the arrival of triplets Aiden, Chad and Kai.

The healthy babes were born via caesarean section at the Gold Coast Hospital at just over 32 weeks.

Aiden arrived first at 7.19pm weighing in at 1.915kg, followed by Chad, 2.02kg and Kai at 2.065kg.

In an unusual twist, the Arundel couple conceived the babies naturally, not through the IVF program which often produces multiple births. There was no history of twins or triplets in either family.

Chad and Kai were also identical twins, which is a onein-6400 chance.

Resting in the Gold Coast Hospital, a surprisingly relaxed Mrs Dale said she was the happiest and luckiest woman in the world.

“It was just awesome,” she said.

”It was a wonderful, special experience. I couldn’t have planned any of it better, from the start of the pregnancy to the birth. It’s been perfect. Those little boys are our miracles, our angels.

”Imagine all the cuddles and kisses I’m going to get. I can’t wait to take them home.”

It took the Dales almost a month to come to terms with the idea of triplets when they found out during the nineweek ultrasound.

”At first we were told we were having twins, which was a shock in itself,” said a happy Mrs Dale.