California triplets are pregnant at same time: 'A dream come true'
CALIFORNIA - Growing up as triplets, Gina Purcell, Nina Rawlings and Victoria Brown shared everything. Now, they’re sharing the experience of pregnancy.
The sisters, 35, from Southern California, were born within four minutes of each other and now, they’re all expecting to give birth in the next few months.
Brown, the youngest of the triplets, told Fox News that their pregnancies are "a dream come true."
"It's been so exciting just sharing our food cravings, how we feel, like how tired we are, our mood swings – things like that," she told Fox. "And it's just so nice to have your best friends there with you throughout the whole experience."
Brown – who already has a 2-year-old daughter – is due to have a baby boy, first, on July 9. Rawlings, the middle triplet, is expecting to have her first child, also a boy, on August 28.
Purcell, the eldest, will have her third child, a baby girl, in November. She already has an 8-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.
Gina Purcell, Nina Rawlings and Victoria Brown (pictured left to right) are all pregnant at the same time. Purcell, the eldest, is due in November. Rawlings, the middle, is due in August. Brown, the youngest, is due in July. (Tina Rawlings)
"It's still kind of surreal to me, I think," Brown said. "And it won't really hit me until I see all the babies together."
Though the sisters are excited to be pregnant at the same time, it wasn’t exactly planned.
Rawlings told Fox that she and her husband had actually been trying to get pregnant for a little over a year when Brown announced she was pregnant around Thanksgiving.
"I had a feeling, too, because she wasn't drinking and she was like 'cleansing,'" Rawlings told Fox about Brown's announcement. "And so when she announced I was like, ‘I knew it.’"
Rawlings was soon to follow. About a month later, around Christmas, she announced she was also expecting.
"Once Tori and I found out that we were pregnant, we encouraged Gina to get pregnant," Rawlings said. "And since it's her third one, she was like, ‘Oh, I don't know, I'm not sure, the kids are a little bit older.’ Rhen they ended up trying and got pregnant. So it's super fun, super lucky."
Purcell explained to Fox that she went through a miscarriage a few years ago and after that, she and her husband decided they were done having kids, since they already had two.
Purcell (left) already has two other children, while Brown (right), already has one child. Meanwhile, Rawlings (middle) is pregnant with her first. (Tina Rawlings)
"But the past year, I kept thinking, like, you know, I don't feel done," Purcell told Fox. "I do want a third. So we're kind of going back and forth, ‘Do we want another one? Are we good?’ And then when I saw my sisters, I'm like, 'OK, well, we're not getting any younger. It's either, we do it now or we're like, done-done.' So it was just an extra little push."
For Rawlings, who is having her first child, it’s especially comforting to be pregnant alongside her sisters who have already given birth before, she told Fox.
"Talking to them and knowing their stories and being so close to them has definitely helped me and like, eased my nerves a little bit," Rawlings said. "But of course, it's still scary because it's unknown."
Each of the sisters will deliver their babies at The Women’s Hospital at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills with OBGYN Dr. Daniel Sternfeld.
Dr. Sternfeld told Fox News he learned the triplets were all pregnant at the same time a few weeks ago when they all had their appointments on the same day – though they were all at different times.
"Then I realized it's like, this is a really interesting story, he told Fox. "Three close knit sisters who are having babies within months of each other."
"I'm just going to be excited to deliver them all," he added.
The sisters have always been close, but being pregnant at the same time has brought them even closer.
"We shared everything before," Rawlings said. "But now that we have this – because being pregnant in itself is a blessing."
"So, being able to share this with your best friends is just surreal," she added. "And we share everything, like registry items, tips like stuff that we see on Instagram, news stories, everything."
"We get each other the same books and toys," Brown chimed in.
Rawlings added: "Three of everything, just like how our mom did it with us."