A lot can change in a year.
Last December, Maria Munkowits and Ollie Ward were getting ready to celebrate their first Christmas together as a couple.
Flip the calendar to December 2023 and they’re mum and dad to three little lads, juggling night feeds and 24 nappy changes a day after striking a one in 10,000 jackpot to conceive triplets naturally.
“It’s quite funny”, said Munkowits, 39, of their insta-family.
“We had our one-year anniversary and we already had three children.”
On Friday last week, the first-time parents took Eli, Ari and Casey home 115 days after Munkowits gave birth via caesarean at Auckland City Hospital, and just in time for Christmas.
When the day came she was nervous, emotional and excited, Munkowits said.
“[You’re] quite overwhelmed, you know? It’s emotional, because that was our home for nearly four months and we got to know all the staff ... And it was also amazing. It was such a good feeling to walk out with them, put them in their car seats and get in the car.”
With Ward, 36, having some time off work, grandparents pitching in to help and the triplets already in a routine from their time in hospital, life at home with three babies hadn’t been too hard, she said.
“They do good during the night, they wake up every three or four hours … yes [there’s three] so the feed does take a while. I do try to encourage them to feed together, but if one’s fast asleep I’m not gonna wake them up.
“But yeah, I think because we don’t have any other kids we’ve got nothing to compare it to, it’s just our normal - this is us now.”
The Ellerslie couple discovered they were expecting fraternal triplets during Munkowits 12-week scan, when the technician went “really quiet and said ‘I think there’s three’”.
“I got tunnel vision at that point … my first thought was, ‘How?’ and my second was, ‘How are they going to come out?’”
The triplets are all doing well after their premature arrival on August 16 at 27 weeks and three days gestation. Eli and Casey weighed around 900 grams (1lb 15oz) and Ari 750g (1lb 10oz) when born. Eli now weighed 4.7kg (10lb 5oz), Casey 4kg (8lb 13oz) and Ari around 3.9kg (8lb 9oz), Munkowits said.
Their first weeks included some scary situations, including when the babies stopped breathing.
“It’s sort of a common thing that happens to such premature babies, but it’s just I knew nothing about it and it was all doctors and machines beeping, so it was really overwhelming. And there’s also three [babies] so even if one had a good week or a good day, there might be another one or two who were having problems.
“But they really surprised us - they’re such strong little battlers. And they weren’t sick, they were just small, so they had a long road.”
She was grateful for the incredible care and support they whole family had received in Auckland City and Starship hospitals over the last four months, Munkowits said.
“I would never complain about paying taxes ever again. The technology available here in this country, and the staff - they’re just so kind, so caring and we felt like [the triplets] were in the safest hands.
“Even when it was scary, everything was explained so carefully.”
Donations to help fund world-class care at Starship, so more children like Eli, Ari and Casey can make it home to their families this and every Christmas, can be made at https://starshipchristmas.org.nz/
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
The police officer wore the gang patch vest over his police uniform.