Triple Joy

Four-month-old Shaundell is a chatterbox; Zia, five months, has a sweet tooth and will “bawl down the place” when she doesn’t get her way; and two-month-old Sapna “is the total trouble maker.” Above all else, they are all healthy babies, and that, in a nutshell, is what the parents of the six triplets born in 2004 wish for their newborns: lots of health and strength for the new year. People interviewed the parents who were eager to give us an update on how their youngsters are doing — how the babies spent their first Christmas and how the mummies and daddies planned to usher in the New Year.

Pamela and Lawrence Ramsey of Penal embraced the birth of Britany Laura, Phillip Robert and Davidson Andrew on November 3, 2004. The Ramseys have been married for five years and are also parents of two-year-old, Joshua Lawrence. Their family has a history of twins, but not triplets, and when Pamela first learnt she was giving birth to three babies, her reaction was, “Oh my God! I was shocked and anxious at the same time. Even up to now I can’t believe that I have triplets.” Grandpa Lawrence Sr, who was visiting from Montreal, Canada, was happy to spend the holidays with his son, also Canadian, and his family. Davidson Andrew, who was given his great grandmother’s maiden name, was getting his routine walk while his siblings were asleep, when we called at their home a few days before Christmas. Pamela was making full use of the free time she had doing chores, as her nieces baby-sat. Her husband was away at work.

“I was anxious to have them before Christmas, so that the family could be here and we could sit and have dinner and celebrate with the babies,” Pamela said. She had prepared a special Christmas dress for Britany and new shirts and pants for the boys. Pamela has temporarily given up her hairdresser job to take care of her children. “I love my children very much. I’ve put work on hold. At the moment I’d rather take care of them.” She said it is easy to tell the triplets apart. “They don’t resemble at all. Phillip is a little more quiet. He looks so much like his father, though, and his father is also quiet... Regarding aspirations for each of them: I would like Joshua to be a doctor. The others, to be good in science, to be lecturers. I would like the girl to be a ballerina. It’s the position they took her out. I saw in the pictures and she is more flexible than the others.” The Ramseys New Year wish: “To maintain a happy family life.”

Clyde and Emily Supersad said that with the birth of the triplets and their move to a new home, it was like getting “an immediate family.” “We feel good. Now everything is complete!” they said. The young Cunupia couple became first-time parents on October 15, 2004. Sanjay, Simran and Sapna, delivered in that order, were born ten weeks premature. The girls spent one month in an incubator, while Sanjay spent an additional month at hospital. “We had a tough time. We passed through hell,” Clyde said as he described the series of complications that their first-born experienced.

“But it was a dream to give birth to triplets,” Emily said. It has only been a week since Sanjay has been home. “We thought we weren’t going to have them before Christmas, but by the grace of God and the miracle of the season, the man (Sanjay) sought out himself,” Clyde smiled. “Christmas only materialised the day he came home and it was only then we started buying things, even the Christmas tree.” Christmas Day for the Supersads was spent at grandma Shirley, Clyde’s mother. However, the New Year will be spent at their house. The triplets received lots of gifts: clothes, baby rattles and stuffed toys from family and friends.

The Supersads celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary on November 19. The two met at the Chaguanas library, sometime after “Clyde would just come to the library to see me and if he didn’t, he would go home.” Emily, now an accountant, was at the time studying for A ’Levels while Clyde, a tax monitoring officer with Board of Inland Revenue, was studying first-year law. Despite their earlier anxieties, the Supersads say their babies are quite healthy and bring them untold happiness. “We get moral support from both sides of the family. They would even come and take turns in washing and cleaning. “The boys are very quiet. They sleep and don’t give trouble. Simran is the total trouble maker. She cries a lot and wants ‘lift-up.’ Sapna is in-between.”

The months ahead, Clyde said, would be a bit hectic for the couple since they would have to be back and forth to the clinics for the babies first shots and ultrasounds. There are long-term plans for the triplets, however. “We want them to study hard and excel. They must be sound in education and go beyond university. We want all three of them to be professionals.” Clyde said that very soon he plans to open a Unit Trust account for them which will go towards their education. “Our New Year’s wish is that we always be together and that they grow up with ‘long-time’ values showing respect and common courtesy; and not because you may be more fortunate than someone else you look down on them,” Clyde added.
He also extended special thanks “to the doctors and nurses at the neo-natal clinic at Mt Hope Hospital. Also to the doctors who delivered the babies, they were excellent, they went beyond the call. The dedication is there and they really fought for the triplets. They say they were only doing their job, but I believe that it’s only people of character and people who have something special in them care like that.”

‘From the time you get the last one to bed, the first one gets up’
 
Stacy Briggs said it was truly a blessing to give birth to triplets. She added, “They say everything happens for a reason.” Stacy and husband Arthur Rodney, a prisons officer, were happy to welcome Sydney, Shaundell and Sidique into their lives. Their nine-year-old daughter, Shnika, was also excited to have a brother and sisters. She said, “It’s fun being their big sister. The boy is kinda loud sometimes and it’s kind of a wish come true because I always wanted brothers and sisters.” For Stacy, however, taking care of three babies has been challenging. “It’s plenty fatigue. From the time you get the last one to bed, the first one gets up.” Every chance she gets, she told People, she naps. “I don’t ever see the kitchen on a regular basis. Sometimes my husband would cook or so.”

Although she is due back out to work in one week, she is also considering extending her leave to stay with the babies. Stacy said since the birth of her children she has put her telecommunications course on hold; “but I can do it any other time.” She said it is hard, financially, to get them to the clinic, she would often hire a car. “But it was a joyous thing having them for Christmas,” she said of the four-month-olds. They were born on August 11, at seven months. She said colleagues and family have been supportive. She said that each of their personalities differed. “Shaundell is a chatterbox. But he has a lot of patience and likes a lot of attention. Sidique is quiet and reserved and also likes attention. Sydney is a bit similar.” Stacy talks with her babies a lot and shed some insight on her hopes and dreams for them. She said, “I tell them I have singers and if it turns out that way it is for the Lord. I would like them to be man and women of God.” But for the New Year she wished that they have “lots of health and strength.”

Pain, joy and happiness

Among the six sets of triplets of 2004 were Zia, Zakari and Zobari born to Karen Fournillier, lawyer, and Neil Romany, evaluation officer. The Pointe-a-Pierre mummy described her five-month-olds as bundles of joy. Her road to delivery was not without complications. Thirty-two weeks into her pregnancy, she developed high blood pressure and the doctors realised that one baby was smaller than the other two. The triplets were born one month premature and underwent photo-therapy treatment for jaundice. However, when People spoke with Karen recently, she said her two boys and girl were coming along nicely. “It’s very challenging though. They are no longer babies and their personalities are beginning to show. Zia doesn’t eat anything without taste. She will bawl down the place. She is very curious and inquisitive. And sometimes she gets jealous. The other boys will eat anything. They are easy-going.” Triplets were also born to Nicole Dindyal and Andre Arthur of Laventille on August 27. An unemployed Nicole is now mother of eight children. Since the children’s birth, her family has had to find a new home after the recent earthquake caused damage to their home. They now reside at Maloney Gardens.

Nicole said she was overwhelmed with anxiety when the triplets were born because of her financial status. Andre is a CEPEP worker, but the two, along with Nicole’s five other children Jan, Jamal, Britney, Bridgette and Mikel were all very excited to welcome Rebecca, Andrea and Nicola into their family. Lecya Prince of Carapichaima gave birth to two girls and one boy on August 31. She said she was not surprised by the news that she was having triplets, since one of her aunts had triplets several years ago. Lecya also has a four-year-old daughter Dellecya. The 23-year-old is unemployed but she believes that while things may be tough at times, something would work out for her family.