Triple trouble for parents
They may be tiny but they are already causing a bit of a stir.
Matamata newborns Damien, Viola and Maia Gibbs-Manssen are the first triplets to be born at Waikato Hospital this year.
They were born via C- section on February 12, weighing in at 2210g, 1710g and 1590g respectively.
Parents Mandy Abraham and Michael Gibbs-Manssen are ‘‘still buzzing’’ at their new arrivals.
The couple found out they were having triplets at their 12-week scan and said it was a ‘‘huge shock’’.
‘‘ We had to get three of everything,’’ Mr GibbsManssen said.
‘‘ People have been so generous … just giving clothes and stuff. We haven’t had to buy much at all.’’
The triplets were born at 33 weeks and will likely stay in the NICU at Waikato Hospital for another five or six weeks.
‘‘They are doing really well,’’ Mr Gibbs-Manssen, a jockey, told the Chronicle last week.
‘‘They are all breathing on their own and Damien is moving into a cot soon.’’
The Waikato District Health Board said they had no record of triplets being born to Matamata parents in the past 15 years. Only one set of triplets was born at Waikato Hospital last year.
The odds of conceiving triplets naturally are about one in 8100, according to the Multiple Birth Association.
Midwife Lynette Collinson has looked after parents of twins before, but triplets were a first.
‘‘It was quite an easy pregnancy. Everything went really, really well.’’
Mr Gibbs-Manssen would like to thank Mrs Collinson and all the staff at Waikato Hospital.