Parents of Triplets Now Expecting Twins

Megan Haggerty and Clyde Bodge with their triplet sons, Clyde, Matthew and Thomas, and 2-year-old daughter Charlotte. Photo by Ron Agnir/ Journal Newspaper.

A West Virginia mom of 1-year-old naturally conceived triplets recently got the second shock of her life when she found out that she’s pregnant with twins.

“I didn’t really expect to be getting that kind of news again,” Megan Haggerty, 30, tells Yahoo Parenting. “But I was also like, I’ve got triplets, twins will be a breeze!” Also in the family are Haggerty’s three children from a previous marriage — girls ages 6, 8, and 10 — and a 2-year-old girl she had with her now-fiancé, Clyde Bodge. He’s currently on stay-at-home-dad duty with the four youngest since being laid off as a heating-and-air-conditioning technician in February, and he’ll add twins to his load come July.

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“Honestly, I’m excited,” Bodge tells Yahoo Parenting in between diaper changes and feedings. “I love kids.”

Haggerty, who has never used fertility drugs, explains that there’s a history of multiples in her family and in Bodge’s. Her grandmother had twins, and a cousin of her mom’s had triplets. A few sets of twins have been born on Bodge’s side — and his great-grandmother had quadruplets. “Of course, that conversation wasn’t had until I was already pregnant with triplets,” Haggerty says with a laugh. (Having a sense of humor, she notes, has been crucial.) She adds that this latest pregnancy came as a bit of a surprise, “but knowing my track record, I had a feeling.”

Bodge and the boys. Photo by Facebook. 

Haggerty’s triplets are fraternal, and the possibility of conceiving them naturally was about 1 in 8,000; for identical triplets, those chances increase to about 1 in a million. And once a woman gives birth to multiples, her odds of doing so again become higher.

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Though the family has taken everything in stride, there have been tough times. “The triplets were really difficult at first because you only have two hands and two legs, and they all seemed to want to be fed at the same time,” Haggerty says.

The older kids have not yet been told about their latest siblings-to-be, she adds, but she hopes they’ll rise to the occasion. “They were very excited about the triplets, especially since they were all boys, but it wore off quickly with our asking them to help all the time.”

The couple has no family nearby for support or to help with childcare duties, and they don’t expect to have any assistance once the twins arrive. What’s more, Haggerty has been forced to miss a lot of time with her little ones, as she spends about 90 minutes commuting each way between their home in Martinsburg and her job as an intake specialist at a psychologist’s office. “Sometimes the babies are asleep when I get home, and they’re asleep when I leave, so I can go a week without seeing them,” she laments. But the couple’s biggest concern now is their finances.

“It’s going to be a test,” Bodge admits. “We’re going to have to keep our heads on straight to make ends meet. I’m willing to work at night.”

Bodge says he’s plagued by insomnia anyway, the lingering effect of a work accident that caused a concussion. “But if I get two hours a night, I’m good with that,” he adds, explaining that he likes keeping the tots busy all day long by listening to music, dancing, building with blocks, playing in an indoor pop-up tent, and, when it’s nice out, having a friend help them get to a nearby park in two double strollers.

“Honestly at first it was very stressful, but my day is so fluid now, I’ve got them on a great schedule,” he says, noting that the triplets even nap at the same time. And as far as the coming twins? “I know it seems scary to most people,” he says, “but I’m really looking forward to it.”