Our three little miracles of Christmas THE ECSTASY OF IVF...
CHRISTMAS may still be a few days away, but for one couple, all the gifts they want have already arrived – in the shape of their triplets.
After a four-year struggle to conceive, Claire Midwinter and her husband Matt turned to IVF, and were ‘over the moon’ when doctors revealed they were to have three babies.
Their three girls, Ella, Tamara and Aria, were born on August 25 and just two weeks later, were home.
The triplets, who were born via caesarean section, are now three and a half months old, and set to celebrate their first Christmas.
Their parents, from Swindon, are sharing their story to encourage other parents in waiting not to give up hope. Doctors had diagnosed their infertility as ‘unexplained’ after a raft of tests came up with no answer.
To improve their chances of conceiving Mrs Midwinter lost two stone after taking up running, gave up caffeine and alcohol, and overhauled her diet. During their battle to conceive there were ‘low points’, Mrs Midwinter, 4, a police detective said, adding: ‘Our friends and family were having babies and it was really quite hard to see that, but because it was unexplained we were keeping positive.’ The couple agreed to try up to five courses of IVF, but succeeded on their second course.
Two embryos were implanted, and one divided – meaning that Ella and Aria are identical twins.
Mr Midwinter, 0, a police constable, took three weeks off when the trio came out of hospital.
His wife said: ‘We always hoped for one baby but never thought we’d end up with three. This Christmas is definitely extra special for us and even though we’ve tried to be sensible, there’s no doubt the triplets will be spoilt.’ The three children have very different characters. She said: ‘Ella is very cheeky. Tamara is chilled and doesn’t cry much – she likes watching the others. Aria is more giggly and smiles all the time.’