Mary Cheung, 37, now has so much trouble telling them apart that she’s still not taken their hospital IDs off, despite them being six weeks old.
Incredibly, Mrs Cheung fell pregnant after her first round of IVF treatment on the NHS, and had a daughter, Celina, three, in 2013.
Two years later they wanted to try again and, after scrimping and saving and calling on friends and family for help, paid £7K for private treatment.
Lewis, Leon and Lloyd were born two minutes apart on 19 July at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital – six weeks early.
After a brief seven-night stay they were allowed home to the couple’s home in Swindon in Wiltshire where they are now thriving.
Mother-of-four Mrs Cheung was told she would never had kids because she has polycystic ovary syndrome. She said: ‘I always wanted to give Simon a boy. I never expected I’d be able to give him three.
“When I was told I’d never be able to have children it took me over six months to come round. But I was determined I was going to be a mum, one way or another.
Mrs Cheung said she and her husband Simon, a project manager for an IT software company, went through a range of emotions after finding out they were to become parents to triplets.
She says: “We were told straight away it was the 2nd highest risk pregnancy there is and that it was very common to lose one, if not all three.
“It was terrifying, and until we had our 12-week scan we were a bag of nerves
“Especially as they shared a placenta. There was a risk of twin-to-twin transfusion, where one baby starves another of nutrients.”
Mrs Cheung, who developed gestational diabetes during the pregnancy, was referred to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford for fortnightly scans.
The triplets were monitored closely, and were booked in for a scheduled c-section at Great Western Hospital, Swindon.
Lewis was born weighing 4lbs 6oz, followed two minutes later by Leon and Lewis, both 3lbs 15oz.
“It’s still not big enough,” Mrs Cheung says. “Our life has been turned upside down, but we couldn’t be happier.”
Amazingly, the couple haven’t ruled out having more children, after their last round of IVF produced a whopping 21 eggs, seven of which they put in the freezer.
“Never say never,” she says.
