Mom of twins gives birth to triplets
Monique Davaul, a mom of six from Virginia, is settling intolife as a mom of triplets, just a few years after she became a mom of twins.
Davaul, of Newport News, gave birth to fraternal triplets, two girls and a boy, on April 12.
She is also the mom of 6-year-old twin sons, as well as an 8-year-old son.
"I was like, 'It's easy,'" Davaul told "Good Morning America" of raising twins. "So I guess maybe God said, 'You kept saying it was easy. I got something for you. Let's see what you can do with three.'"
Davaul, 30, said that because she had a multiple pregnancy previously, when she was pregnant with the triplets, she thought she could be having another multiple pregnancy given how sick she felt.
"I was very sick, so I said, 'It's either a girl, or I'm pregnant with multiples,'" she recalled, adding that while multiples do not run in her family, the babies' paternal grandfather is a twin.
In the United States, only around 3,000 births in 2021 were triplet births, while around 114,000 births that year were twin births, according to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Making Davaul's repeat multiple pregnancies even rarer is that she became pregnant both times without the help of fertility drugs.
The hospital where she delivered the triplets, Virginia's Riverside Regional Medical Center, told "GMA" her children are the first triplets born at the hospital since 2018.
"We're so proud to have been a part of this special moment for this family. Moments like these are truly a reminder of why we love being nurses," the Riverside Regional Medical Center nurses who cared for Davaul and her newborns said in a statement." "It’s been five years since we've seen triplets. It’s an honor to be able to provide care and support to families during the most important times of their lives."
Davaul said she delivered the triplets at 33 weeks. The babies, named Mielle, Jihad and Noelle, spent a few weeks each in the neo-natal intensive care unit, but all three were home with Davaul in time for Mother's Day on Sunday.
Davaul said that -- despite doubling the number of offspring she has with one delivery -- she is adjusting well to life as a mom of six thanks to a great support system.
Her support system is one that includes her three older sons, particularly her twin boys, Nasir and Sincere.
"They are so excited and they try to help out," she said of the 6-year-olds. "Nasir tries to sleep in the room with us, and they say, 'My baby brother, my baby sisters.'"
