Ellie Dudfield, 21, and Billy Revell, 20, are adjusting to life as a family of five after welcoming identical twins who were delivered 12 weeks early and had a 40% chance of surviving. Young British parents are adjusting to life as a family of five after beating the odds of one in 200 million to conceive three identical children.
Archie, Albie, and Arthur were delivered 12 weeks early, and their parents, Ellie Dudfield, 21, and Billy Revell, 20, were informed that their chances of survival were barely 40%. Each of the two-pound boys has overcome a multitude of medical issues, including sepsis, jaundice, and one boy’s brain hemorrhaging.
The shared placenta triplets overcame all odds and are now residing at home with their parents and Lola, their two-year-old sister. Ellie, an NHS administrative assistant, admits that it can be difficult to have a 4-year-old child under the age of 2, but she has no choice. The delighted mum from Kettering in Northampton said, “We clearly don’t have ordinary lives like other people our age.”
Although it was challenging, we managed because we always put our families first. While we were in the NICU with the boys, the nurses noticed how much we had grown. Strangers frequently stopped us in the street to admire the boys and would commend us when they saw how young we were.
The “one in 200 million” trio was conceived in November of 2020 and miscarried in June of this year at 28 weeks and two days.
Following cesarean delivery, Archie, Albie, and Arthur were each transported to Kettering General Hospital weighing 2lb 6oz, 2lbs 2oz, and 2lbs 4oz, respectively. In addition, the birth of triplets is extremely rare—only one in 80,000 kids is born that way. Their struggle for survival really starts when they are brought to the neonatal critical care unit.
Archie and Albie were transported to Coventry University hospital after two days because they had significant high blood pressure and required additional mechanical ventilation. Jaundice and sepsis spread to everyone of them. Albie needs a lengthy course of antibiotics since she has meningitis around her brain. We were informed that Archie’s prognosis may not be favorable because of the bleeding in his lung. At the age of just two weeks, doctors discovered that Arthur had Grade 4 Hemorrhage and were unable to assess his quality of life.
Having four children under the age of two is challenging, but routine is crucial, Ellie said. Fortunately, the hospital has helped the three children form a positive habit by feeding them every four hours. Now that they only wake up once at night, Lola is going through two particularly difficult phases. To ensure that everyone receives an appropriate amount of attention, we must balance our time. Before the trio arrived, the couple renovated their five-seater to a seven-seater.
