Ontario couple celebrates birth of identical triplets

ALEXANDRIA, Ont. — With no past history of multiple births in their families, Lee and Lacey Paquette were surprised to learn in December that they were expecting triplets. They were even more shocked when they learned the three boys would be identical.

“At first there was a lot of tears and a lot of shock,” Lacey

Paquette said Sunday. “But then my husband and I knew it was meant to be and we couldn’t wait.”

“There’s no history of it in either of our families,” Lee added.

“So, when our families heard that we were having triplets they first told us, ‘No way, it’s not happening.’ When they first started seeing the pictures of the ultrasounds, they got very excited about it.”

The parents only found out the triplets they were going to welcome into the world were identical two weeks after first learning they were triplets.

The three are younger brothers to Damien, 2 ½.

The three boys — Emmett, Wyatt, and Sawyer, are all healthy after being born three weeks ago.

Often referred to as a three-of-a-kind birth, the event is extremely rare, with doctors reporting a one-in50-million chance of it occurring.

The triplets were delivered by C-section at the General campus of The Ottawa Hospital. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic measures resulted in a number of procedures being altered.

“My husband could not come in with me for any appointments,” Lacey said.

“They kept telling us that, if things keep going the way they are, he won’t be allowed in-person for the C-section. The closer it got, the more I kept asking doctors if there was anything new happening with regulations and they kept telling that he would still not be allowed in.”

The COVID-19 safety measures resulted in Lee having to witness the birth of their triplets virtually.