Food is splashed up the kitchen walls and there are seemingly endless loads of washing.
But the chaos in Craig Mudie and Lois Cathro’s home comes with the joy, laughter and cuteness of having toddler triplets.
They are parents to Archie, Oliver and Myles, who at two years old are energetically exploring the world around them.
Any parent of a two-year-old will know the experience is sometimes fun, sometimes overwhelming but always busy.
‘It’s like playing Whac-A-Mole’
So what’s it like having three of them at once?
Lois says: “Sometimes it can feel a bit like playing Whac-A-Mole; you are constantly trying to keep everyone happy!”
But she adds: “They are little rays of sunshine.
“They are just these precious little people that we’ve been able to pour our love into.”
The Mudie triplets are well known in Monifieth, where they live, and since they were babies have attracted attention when they go out.
When they were babies they would go out in a double and single pram if both parents were there, or the double and a baby carrier if it was just the one.
Now they prefer their pull-along wagons.
But either way, passers-by have always wanted to stop the family for a chat and to coo over the brothers.
Lois says: “I wish I had a pound for every time someone said ‘you’ve got your hands full’!
One in 42,000 chance
“They do draw a lot of attention. On the whole, people are really lovely and are just curious and want to know what it’s like.”
The boys are non-identical, spontaneous triplets – making their chances of their conception one in 42,000.
Lois and Craig, both 31, were mourning the stillbirth of son William when they discovered just a few weeks later that they were expecting again.
At a seven-week scan in the early pregnancy assessment clinic at Ninewells Hospital the couple were told they were having twins.
But another scan three weeks later revealed there were to be Mudie triplets.
Lois says: “I actually think I laughed, a nervous laugh! Craig was silent, at one point he had his head in his hands!”
Anxiety and relief
From that point on, Lois and her three unborn babies were carefully monitored by staff who specialise in multiple pregnancy and birth.
But given their history, their pregnancy was full of anxiety. So much so that the couple didn’t buy any clothes, equipment or suchlike to prepare for the babies’ arrival.
“I’d done the whole packing up and emptying a nursery and I didn’t want to do that again,” says Lois. “It almost felt like I might jinx something by buying stuff.”
There was some relief at the 12-week scan when they were told each baby had its own placenta, meaning there was no risk of one baby getting less nutrients than another.
The boys were born by Caesarean section eight weeks early and although healthy needed respiratory support and help feeding as they were so tiny.
Archie weighed 3lb 11oz, Oliver 3lb 5 oz and Myles 3lb 6oz.
They stayed in the neonatal unit for just over three weeks, but did so well they got home sooner than Craig and Lois expected.
From that point on, the couple ran a tight ship to ensure that their three babies got the care they needed and they got at least some sleep.
Lois breastfed exclusively for four weeks but found it so difficult they introduced formula milk.
The tiny tots had to be woken and fed every three hours to ensure they gained weight.
Lois says: “We would do Archie first, then Oliver, then Myles.
“It would be like change their nappy, feed them, wind them, next one, change, feed, next one, then wash all the stuff.
“Sometimes it would take two to two-and-a-half hours so by the time you’d washed all the equipment and I’d expressed it would be time to start over.”
Primary school teacher Lois was on maternity leave but Craig, a quantity surveyor, was working full-time.
The couple tended the babies in shifts, Craig doing 6am to 9am and 8pm to 11pm or midnight when Lois would sleep. Then she would do the day shift and the early hours.
Lois says: “I was having six to seven hours of broken sleep in a day and Craig was working but also up until midnight then up again at 6am. It was quite difficult.”
Despite the hard work, the couple’s loss of William had made them so acutely grateful for what they had and Lois says: “I was just on such a high.
In the first year we were just going, going, going.”
Lois
“You go on adrenaline and I feel like that took months and months before it wore off and we realised we were really tired.
“In the first year we were just going, going, going.
“Now if they have a bad night, I feel a lot more tired than I ever did then.”
With changes every three hours – and sometimes more often – the family went through at least 24 nappies a day.
As the boys got older they were fed less frequently, they slept longer and longer through the night.
When one woke Lois and Craig would wake the other two and feed them at the same time.
Lois says: “We muddled through and we got there in the end.”
And they have always had lots of family support.
Lois works three days a week and grandparents muck in with childcare.
She said: “We are really fortunate that they are looked after by family when I’m working.
“We probably couldn’t afford to put them to nursery.”
On the weekdays she is off, a HomeStart volunteer helps Lois take the boys out.
“I was finding myself really stuck at home because there are limited places I can take all three safely and know they are contained and can’t run off.
“Although they are really good at holding my hand and listening to instructions, they are still just two.”
Life now, she says, is chaotic but fun as each boy’s character grows.
Lois says: “They are such a good laugh.
“Oliver is quite cautious compared to the other two. Archie and Myles throw themselves into everything.”
At dinner time the boys can now feed themselves, instead of mum and dad going down the line with three spoons.
“The only problem now is throwing food on the floor,” says Lois. “If they don’t like something, you might have noticed in the kitchen, it’s up the walls!”
And the amount of laundry for three messy toddlers is, she says, “phenomenal”.
“I’m really fortunate that when our families are here the days I’m working, they quite often do a load of washing and help to tidy.”
And the boys are supportive of each other.
“If one of them falls,” says Lois, “another one will go over and give them a wee hug and a kiss.
“It’s really lovely to see.”
But the Mudie clan doesn’t look likely to grow any time soon, for a couple of reasons.
Lois is reluctant to go through the same anxiety as she did in her second pregnancy.
She says: “I don’t know I’d be able to navigate another pregnancy feeling that way and also trying to give them the attention they deserve and need.
“The second reason is trying for baby number five and maybe getting five, six and seven!
“Three is definitely super special and we are incredibly grateful to have them.”
Is your family a little bit different? Maybe it’s who you are, maybe it’s what you do that sets you apart. We’d love to hear your story. If you have a tale to tell let us know.
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