Parents Maria Munkowits and Ollie Ward celebrate their triplets Ari, Eli, and Casey's first birthday. Video / Dean Purcell
Each morning Maria Munkowits looks at the three little boys whose spontaneous conception made her a first-time mum at 38 and a familiar feeling washes over.
“One in 10,000″, the Auckland mum says of the statistical chance her and partner Ollie Ward would conceive triplets naturally.
“So it will never not be surprising. Every day I wake up and look at them and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, there’s three’.”
Auckland triplets, from left, Eli, Casey and Ari Ward turned one on Friday. Photo / Dean Purcell
It was on Friday, one year ago, Casey, Eli and Ari came into the couple’s lives by caesarean section, in that order, and a minute apart.
The babies’ premature arrival at 27 weeks and three days’ gestation meant Munkowits and Ward were head of a family of five before the couple’s one-year anniversary the following month.
“It’s funny how time works, because some things just feel like there’s been a lifetime,” Munkowits said.
“And then”, she said, noting the whirlwind of the last two years, “it’s crazy.”
Parents Ollie Ward and Maria Munkowits welcomed their prematurely-born triplets, from left, Ari, Eli, and Casey less than a year after they became a couple. Photo / Dean Purcell
The Herald first met the Ward triplets when the trio were discharged from Starship Hospital 115 days after their birth, and just in time for Christmas.
Then, they weighed between 3.9kg and 4.7kg, up from between 750g and 900g (1lb 10oz - 1lb 15oz) at birth.
At their last paediatrician appointment a few weeks ago each had grown to around 7kg or 8kg each - “good, healthy weights”, Munkowits said.
“They’re still little, and they look like the tiniest 1-year-olds ever. But they’re all good.”
The prematurely-born Ward triplets, from left, Ari, Eli and Casey, pictured aged 4 months just after they came home from hospital in time for Christmas last year. Photo / Jason Oxenham
From left, Auckland triplets Ari, Eli, and Casey Ward pictured a day before their first birthday on Friday. Photo / Dean Purcell
Until they’re 2, the triplets’ health and milestones would be checked on their “corrected” age - currently nine months, based on their full-term due date.
So far, they’re doing well, she said.
“All their checks - hearing, eyes, brain - everything was totally fine.”
Only their lungs were “a little bit compromised”, a common ailment in premature babies, but all had been fortunate to escape the worst winter ills so far, Munkowits said.
“We’ve had colds and little viruses here and there, but nothing major or scary. So that’s been really lucky.”
Triplet life is a rotation of feeding, sleeping, cuddles, play, outings - two in a double pram, one strapped to mum’s chest - and, of course, nappy changing.
“There’s been a lot of nappies”, Munkowits said, estimating each baby still went through around five a day.
“Even having two adults, three babies is a lot. But if it’s just me with all three of them, I feel like I need to be an octopus - literally, you need more pairs of hands.”
Ari, Casey and Eli are pictured with their parents Ollie Ward and Maria Munkowits after going home aged 4 months. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Auckland parents Ollie Ward and Maria Munkowits have made it through the first year of raising their triplet sons, from left, Ari, Eli and Casey. Photo / Dean Purcell
Ward works as a construction project manager, with yoga teacher Munkowits a stay-at-home mum, but the couple have also been able to employ a nanny three days a week thanks to Government funding for parents of multiples.
“She’s fantastic and has helped us so much … it also means I can sneak out and teach a yoga class here and there, and do my old life stuff.”
It also helped that all three boys were “good sleepers”, after the couple stuck to the schedule the babies were on during their first four months in hospital, Munkowits said.
“If I can get enough sleep, which I do, I can handle anything during the day.”
Auckland dad Ollie Ward got inked for his first Father's Day after triplet sons Casey, Ari, and Eli were born in August last year. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Meanwhile, their little lads have been mastering their milestones, from fine motor skills to baby talk.
There’s also lots of “toothy smiles” times three, and there’ll likely be “a crawler” among the bunch pretty soon, she said.
“The biggest one Eli, he’s sort of the first to do everything. And then it’s Casey. Then Ari. You can kind of see it go down the line.”
The Ward triplets, from left, Eli, Casey and Ari, are hitting their milestones and doing well a year after their premature birth, mum Maria Munkowits says. Photo / Dean Purcell
As well as their different looks - the brothers are fraternal triplets - the trio have unique personalities, she said.
“Eli, he’s like the big, gentle giant. Super friendly, loves people. Casey, he’s a little bit more cautious, a little bit shy, but a real observer.
“And then Ari is kind of like the wild child. He gets the look in his eye. Smallest, but mightiest.”
The biggest lesson in her first year of multiples’ motherhood was to be “really present”.
“You can get caught up in, ‘Are they gaining enough weight? What are they eating? How many nappies do I need to buy?’
“But I’m trying to remind myself to actually enjoy them, and enjoy them individually as well as together. Just make that a priority, rather than the chores and the admin of baby stuff.”
Life has changed since their triplets were born, but 'in the best way', Auckland mum Maria Munkowits says. Photo / Dean Purcell
She was wary about giving other new parents advice, “because I was overloaded with so much”, instead encouraging them to be their own guide.
“Listen to your intuition and do whatever works best for you and your family. Nobody’s the same, and everyone will have a different experience.”
Like all parents, her and Ward’s lives were now “completely different”.
“But in the best way. And I feel like it’s just gonna get better.”
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.
