Although Newberg, Oregon is a small town, a huge headline has come from it. A couple beat impossible odds and gave birth to a rare set of triplets. Logan Brown-Fletcher and Amber Hills were first told she was pregnant and they were overjoyed. And when they were told they were pregnant with triplets, they couldn’t hide their excitement. They were anxious because they were going to have to deal with three diaper changes instead of one, but they were happy to be bringing so much joy into the world.
However, neither Amber nor Logan were prepared for the news the doctors were about to share. And it changed everything for the young couple.
Not long after learning about her pregnancy, Amber got the bad news. She had an ovarian cyst the size of a basketball growing inside of her. And while the cyst posed a threat to Amber’s well-being, it was particularly dangerous for the little three babies growing inside of her.
When Amber first got the news, she cried.
“I was so scared I could lose the babies,” she said in an interview with Oregon Live. “I bawled the whole way home.”
Doctors recommended a risky procedure. With the triplets growing inside of her, they cut her open to remove the ovary and the cyst. Her inside had twisted and resulted in “the worst pain [she’s] ever felt.”
But while the pain was horrible, the surgery was a success. And the doctors thought her babies were out of the woods.
But once again the young couple had to deal with some terrible news.
During the routine check up, doctors had trouble locating the third baby’s heartbeat. And when they did find it, it was weak and had dropped dramatically. With her C-section scheduled for August 4, the doctors couldn’t wait that long. They rushed her into the operating room for an emergency C-section when she was just 33 weeks pregnant.
The premature birth was terrifying. But with Logan by her side, she was able to get through it. And at the end, she had three beautiful babies – Raelyn, Avery and Elaina.
They were all healthy and alive. They did have to go to the NICU, but only because they were born premature. And when Amber got to look upon her daughters for the first time, she remembers meeting “the loves of my life.”
She added, “I was so happy, my heart was full and I was totally in love,” she said. “I want to be with them all the time. It’s hard to be away from them.”
But the miracle was not finished. Doctors soon realized that the triplets were all perfectly identical. This happens for twins but is extremely rare for tirplets.
According to neonatologist Dr. Craig Novack, he has only seen one set of identical triplets and he has been working in the field for more than two decades. While statistics are not available to verify his claim, Novack thinks the likelihood is close to “one in a million.”
Do you have any twins or triplets in your family?
