Meet Abel, Asher and Azariah – the tiny trio who defied a one in 200 million chance of becoming ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴄᴀʟ triplets. Parents Alex and Amy Lindsay were in complete sʜᴏᴄᴋ when they attended a 12-week appointment expecting to see a baby – only to find out that there were three on the way.
But now the couple, who already have Elijah, four, and Zion, two, say they feel “lucky” after being the proud parents of five young Bᴏʏs under five. Estimates vary, but the Oᴅᴅs of ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴄᴀʟ triplets range from one in 60,000 to one in 200 million.
The couple from Houghton-le-Spring welcomed their new babies into the world on 9 July at the Royal Sunderland Hospital, after 35 weeks of pregnancy. Each baby was born with a healthy weight, where Abel weighed 6lb 2, Asher 5lb 12 and Azariah 5lb 11.
Amy, 31, said: “It was a high-ʀɪsᴋ pregnancy, so at 35 weeks and at such a good weight, I feel really lucky. However, it’s been very difficult. I had a hard time at the end of my pregnancy. Even getting dressed was difficult and I was in a lot of pain just sitting down. They are very stable babies but the biggest challenge comes at feeding time when you have three. they both want to be fed at the same time. I’ve breastfed them but spit up by bottle-feeding them, which also allows me to get support from Alex and my mom.”
Husband Alex, 33, added: “We are fortunate to live in a separate four-bedroom house but space is an issue. We had to clear the dining table and chairs to make more room. My friends keep joking that when our son gets older, we can form our own group of five.”
Amy admitted that the couple had a “Hᴜɢᴇ sʜᴏᴄᴋ” during their first shoot when they realized they were about to become parents to five young Bᴏʏs. The couple only had plans to have another child together and Amy began to wonder how she would ᴄᴏᴘe with three babies and two young Bᴏʏs at home.
Amy said: “I was in bed and Alex said he could see quite a bit of movement on the scan. That’s when the sonographer asked if there was a family history of twins and revealed that there had been. We’ve had 2 Bᴏʏs and so this was a big sʜᴏᴄᴋ and so I tried to calm down. It was then the sonographer suddenly gasped – you could tell even behind the mask.”
She added: “We were ᴛᴇʀʀɪғɪᴇᴅ at first thinking she had noticed soᴍᴇᴛʜing was wrong with one of the children but that’s when she revealed that there was another child in there. The plan was that this would be our last as a kid and with two Bᴏʏs under four I wondered how we would ᴄᴏᴘe, it was definitely a sʜᴏᴄᴋ I kept thinking, I only have two arms, how can I hold them and feed them.”
Alex said: “I remember telling my mother-in-law and she thought we were joking. She wouldn’t believe us until we showed her the scan. When we first found out. First of all, it was a real sʜᴏᴄᴋ, but we are a Christian family and feel blessed that children are a gift from God.It really helped us through the pregnancy phase. pregnancy has many potential dangers.
