Family joy as triplets celebrate first birthday

Family joy as triplets celebrate first birthday

15 July 2020

WHAT a difference a year makes for triplets Cameron, Brody and Zoey McMenamin.

The bonny trio from Ballykinlar will mark their first birthday with a special family birthday party tomorrow.

The triplets made headlines last year when they were born to local couple Kirsty and Brendan (BJ) McMenamin, who became the parents of four children under the age of two — they already had a 22 month-old daughter Zara.

They were born by Caesarian section at the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, on July 16 — the day after their mother’s 28th birthday — and weighed between 4.7lb and 5lb.

The no-nonsense young parents said that the last year has flown in with the contented babies all sleeping through the night from nine weeks old.

But as the babies are now attempting to walk, Kirsty thinks that the real parenting challenge of dealing with two toddler boys and girl will kick in. 

“I think things are only going to get harder for us when they start to move about as I can’t go in three different directions. I think that the baby stage will have definitely been the easier stage,” she said. 

Apart from a few health scares with Brody, the smallest of the three who required some time in the neonatal unit after he was born, the triplets have proved to be model babies. 

“We had no choice but to get on with our family life and they’ve settled in together fine,” said Kirsty.

“From day one, we started to establish a routine with them and just kept going. Both Brendan and I are quite down to earth people but I also think we got lucky in that we got babies who slept and babies who ate.

“Even when they came home from hospital, they would have been fed around 11pm before going to bed and would have woken only once in the night for another feed. Though our mornings do start early between 6am-7am and that’s been the way since they were about 12 weeks old.”

The family recently moved out to Ballykinlar from Downpatrick as they needed a home with more space to accommodate their nursery equipment.

They were fortunate enough to win a year’s supply of nappies before last Christmas in a competition run by SuperValu in partnership with Pampers. 

Along with the help of devoted family members, the couple were thankful to have had help from volunteers from Home Start and Sure Start for several times during the week, although this had to stop due to the pandemic lockdown. 

Kirsty said: “One volunteer came on a Friday which enabled us all getting out to go to the playgroup or sometimes with another volunteer we would take it in turns to have one-on-one time with the babies and then with Zara.”

She said the babies, who are not identical, are thriving and each has its own distinct personality.

“Brody was the smallest and experienced a few little hiccups, but he’s the one one who does everything first. He took a couple of first steps last week, while Cameron has started to pull himself up on furniture and Zoey is doing her best to crawl,” explained Kirsty.

“Brody is just a wee tearaway and is so inquisitive about everything. If he wants something, he gets it. Cameron is a more laid back and chilled baby. He is happy to sit and watch nursery rhymes, play with his toys and not bother with the other two.

“However, Zoey is a real diva and needs to have attention on her all the time. She hates it when I’m out of the room.

“It took Zara a little bit of time to get used to the idea of the three new babies, but once she settled down, she took to being a big sister like a duck to water.”

The demand to feed, wash, nurse and care for each baby, as well as their older daughter, is relentless each day, says Kirsty.

“I feed all three at the same time, and I literally give one spoonful into one and then the next one, and then the third, and just rotate it. Sometimes we don’t go fast enough for them and by the time you get to number three, number one is crying for more.”

For Kirsty there is no time to sit and look back in all that has happened — from the shock of being told she was expecting triplets to bringing the little ones home.

She said: “We have managed well but it’s not all fun and games. We have our moments as parents as it’s such hard work. It’s non-stop and you don’t get a minute to think, the only option is to get on with it.

“Honestly, you don’t get time to sit and appreciate what you’ve got as you’re so busy. It’s definitely been a lot different compared to Zara’s first year but I wouldn’t change a thing and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Adding to the family sometime in the future is not something that is off the books.

“It’s a possibility, it’s not a straight no,” laughs Kirsty. “Everyone says I’m a brave woman for even thinking about it.”