After Jessica Kennedy learned that she was pregnant with triplets, she cried for two weeks. “We were trying for one more, and we got three more,” she says. But as her identical baby boys—Reed, Knox, and Finn—approach their first birthday, she wouldn’t have it any other way. The idea of raising her triplets and two older children doesn’t seem as daunting anymore.
That’s partially thanks to an unexpected support system: two other women who gave birth to triplets at the same hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, within weeks of Kennedy’s delivery. Through a mutual friend, Kennedy learned that Jeri Wright had also been admitted to MoBap, expecting triplets. Wright then introduced Kennedy to Kristen McCloy, a first-time mom expecting triplets at the hospital, too.
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When Kennedy eventually moved to the delivery ward, Wright and McCloy were still on bedrest together. “Everybody else was going about their daily life and going to work, and you’re just, like, ‘OK, I can travel to the cafeteria,’” McCloy says with a laugh. The pair would walk the halls together and check in on each other often. McCloy says her friendship with Wright kept her spirits up during that time.
Kennedy gave birth to her boys on November 2. McCloy delivered Lucas and Colton (identical boys) and Emalyn on November 26. And Wright welcomed Finn, Beckett, and Oliver (two of the boys are identical) on December 16. All nine newborns were delivered by MoBap’s Dr. Michael Paul, who said the women’s mutual support contributed to safe, healthy deliveries. The support was especially meaningful to McCloy, a first-time mom who’d lost her own mother a few weeks before learning that she was pregnant.
Now, almost a year later, the women have found that although their lives are changed significantly, their friendship remains intact. They text almost daily. “Only they can truly understand how hectic life can be,” Wright says. “It’s nice sometimes just to vent, but a lot of the time we’re asking questions.”
They might text: What time did you put them to bed? How much are you feeding your guys? Is one not wanting to eat as much as the others? Have you tried finger foods yet? They discuss new baby products or offer advice—anything that might make life a little easier.
All three agree that the beginning was the toughest, from the lack of sleep to the older children’s adjustment. Wright’s 2-year-old daughter has since become more engaged with the boys, she says. “She does a better job than I do at calming them down,” says Wright. “She can make them laugh in a heartbeat.”
The trio also tries to get together once a month at a park with all nine babies and three older kids. “People always say to us, every time we go anywhere, ‘My gosh, how do you guys do it?’” Kennedy says. “We don’t really look at it like that. You just do what’s best for your kids. You don’t really think about anything else.”
McCloy feels the same way. Before she delivered, she often heard that she’d need help raising the triplets. “There’s no way you can go home and do this by yourself,” people would tell her. “I just stuck with the schedule the NICU started us on,” McCloy says. “It’s a balancing act—what you do with one, you do with all three.
“It’s fun to master things that you thought were so scary and then figure out how to tackle new challenges,” Wright adds. “Every week, they change. That’s why it’s so important for Jessica and Kristen and I to stay in close contact. They’re doing the exact same thing that I am.”
For McCloy, who’d waited and hoped for so long to get pregnant, raising three babies is something she’s grateful for. She’s since left her work to do just that. “I couldn’t be happier to see every little milestone and smile and be able to cuddle them,” she says with a sigh. “It’s an amazing feeling to be a mom.”
All three agree that the experience is passing by at unimaginable speed. “It’s unbelievable how fast time goes and how much they’ve changed from little 4-pound premature babies. Now they’re 20 pounds and starting to crawl,” Kennedy says. “In the NICU, they tell us all the things that could possibly go wrong and all the potential development delays. I think we’re just so fortunate that we came home with nine healthy babies.”
