Lina Sapia, 35, from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, beat the staggering one in 200 million odds by naturally conceiving the babies – something she thought wasn’t possible after needing IVF to conceive her firstborn Alba.
Lina, and her husband Fabio, wanted to extend their family and planned on using one of their four frozen embryos – but were surprised to discover they were expecting in September 2019.
At their six week scan, the couple were left in ‘total shock’ when their midwife detected three heartbeats.
Lina said: ‘We were trying for three years before we decided to have IVF with Alba, which was successful the first time.
‘We were in total shock and couldn’t believe it – Fabio, who is a risk analyst, was nervously laughing in the corner. We felt like we had won the lottery – neither of us have multiples in the family!’
The couple admits they still get confused about who is who at times, and the 13-week-old triplets still wear velcro wrist bands with their initials on to ensure they’re not mixed up.
Lina added: ‘I felt anxious throughout the pregnancy as I feared something bad may happen and I couldn’t deal with another miscarriage.
‘But we had scans every two weeks to ensure everything was fine – it was incredible watching them grow.
‘My bump became heavy and uncomfortable towards the end but I persevered as I still needed to be a mum to Alba and keep her entertained.
‘They were born March 12 – and thankfully our parents were able to meet them before the UK went into lockdown.
‘The wristbands are mainly for night feeds as there has been an occasion when one baby nearly got fed twice as it is hard to tell them apart!’
