Infertile, THEN TRIPLETS

Rosie Phelps-Goggin, 41, was about to start IVF when three miracles happened at once

- EMMA ROSSITER, KARL GRAFTON

Watching my three baby girls snuggle up while my eldest, Gabriella, four, read them a bedtime story, I couldn’t resist capturing the moment on camera. Just five years ago, my husband, Brad, 46, and I had struggled to have one baby, and now we had a houseful. We were permanently exhausted, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept more than a few hours, but hearing their giggles, none of that mattered.

Brad and I married in 2012and immediately started trying for a family. Only, after 18 months and two early miscarriages, we were anxious. ‘There must be a problem,’ I told Brad, and he agreed we should see fertility specialists. Only, just before our first appointment, in February 2015, I fell pregnant for a third time.

‘Let’s not jinx it,’ Brad said, worried how I’d handle another miscarriage, so we only told close family, until I started showing at five months. But it was a smooth pregnancy – and, in November 2015, Gabriella arrived weighing 6lb 12oz.

I grappled with sleepless nights, and when Brad, a pilot, wasn’t overseas, he helped too. By the time Gabriella was two we could recite episodes of Peppa Pig and were starting to think about having another baby. Only, I started suffering pains in my side.

I often felt sick and breathless, so my GP referred me for tests, and I was diagnosed with endometriosis, where tissue similar to womb lining grows in other places.

‘I suspect it’s growing on your diaphragm,’ explained a specialist. He recommended a hysterectomy.