Ali O’Leary and Chris Deasy, besotted parents, cradle their tots after fate — and a very particular day — blessed them with three bundles of joy. The preterm triplets, who have just recently returned home from the hospital, were born eight weeks ago. When Ali had a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ at the end of November, their arrival helped to ease the ᴀɢᴏɴʏ of losing a child. On August 2, the infant would have been due. The triplets were supposed to arrive on October 3rd. They were, however, delivered ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇly on August 2nd. Georgia, four years old, is shown embracing the super-cute Lenny, Ted, and Bruce, who are brothers to her.

“It was incredibly ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀᴛɪᴄ for us when I realized they were born on the same day that the baby I lost was due,” Ali, 32, told the Sunday Mirror. I was originally disappointed that the triplets were born ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇly since they were so little, and I blamed my body for not being able to keep them for longer. But suddenly it dawned on me that it was all meant to be. They are our three little miracles, and we consider them as a gift from God. It’s as though our prior baby was watching out for them.” Ali’s incredible story of hope, ᴍɪsᴇʀʏ, and eventually unbridled delight began when she became pregnant late last year.

She and her partner, Chris, a 31-year-old auto salesman, were excited to give Georgia a little brother or sister. Unfortunately, she ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅ while she was only five weeks pregnant. Her hopes of starting a family were dashed… but only for a short time, as she became pregnant again in January. Ali, from Dublin, confesses she never expected to become pregnant so soon after. “It was completely unexpected,” she says. “It was completely unexpected. I just took a pregnancy test since I was feeling under the weather and experiencing pregnancy-like symptoms. I never expected I’d be pregnant so soon after, but it came as such a sʜᴏᴄᴋ when I found out it was positive.”

“I was so scared following the ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ that we went for an early ultrasound at approximately seven weeks.” I needed some comfort, so I double-checked the baby’s heartbeat. Doctors stated they could see two heartbeats and told us we were carrying twins, which was a huge sʜᴏᴄᴋ at the time. “I simply chuckled and said it ran in the family,” I added, referring to my sister’s twins. Then came the next twist in this incredible tale. Ali was surprised to learn that there were three heartbeats when she returned for her 12-week checkup on March 15. ‘I couldn’t believe it,’ she explains. The sonographer remained looking at the screen while running the scanner over my tummy.’

“Then they showed me it was triplets, and there were three heartbeats fluttering on the screen, which confirmed it. Chris couldn’t say anything. I was just concerned about the size of my baby belly! The physicians explained that two of the triplets were sharing an amniotic sac, something they hadn’t seen during my early ultrasound at seven weeks. They could see one of the heartbeats, but the other was hidden behind it, so they assumed I was only expecting twins. The babies were larger during the 12-week ultrasound, so they could see all three of them.”

“It was a sʜᴏᴄᴋ to go from believing I was expecting twins to find out I was expecting triplets.” But I suppose it was because of the sadness of the ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ that I just took it all in stride and remained calm. The idea that I was expecting three infants instead of one or even two didn’t bother me in the least. After the prior loss, all I wanted for them was for them to be healthy when they were born. “I wished for them to live.” “It was such a sʜᴏᴄᴋ when we found out Ali was having triplets – but we were ecstatic,” Chris, a proud father, said. It’s quite astonishing that they all arrived on the same due day as the prior baby.”

Because Ali’s pregnancy was designated high-ʀɪsᴋ, she was checked every two weeks. Thankfully, things went normally until her waters burst at 31 weeks pregnant. “It all occurred so quickly,” she explained. My waters ruptured, and I was sent to the hospital to be monitored. Because they were early, the doctors advised me to attempt to keep them as long as possible. But, when I went into labor two days later, the physicians had no choice but to deliver the infants via C-section on August 2.” Ali was disappointed since they were nine weeks early and weighed 3lb 9oz, 4lb, and 3lb 4oz, respectively. She felt a strong desire to carry them for a longer period of time. The importance of the occasion dawned on her. Her twins were born on the same day as the baby she had lost. The triplets spent many weeks in the hospital before being released last week. They’re becoming stronger all the time now.