Emporia’s population just increased by three.
Parents Ramses and Maria Renteria of Emporia had triplets Friday — two boys and one girl.
They were delivered by Dr. Christina Faulkner, obstetrician/gynecologist, by cesarean section.
Maria Renteria said she found out she was pregnant when she was four weeks along. It was in the ninth week they found out there were having not two but three babies. That day they had gone to the emergency room for fluids since Maria had been sick. They thought she had the stomach flu combined with the pregnancy. When they did the ultrasound, they counted three babies.
“I was kind of emotional,” Maria said. “I wanted to get up and throw up.”
Ramses Renteria recalled the moment as well.
“They said there were two babies,” he said. “They moved over and saw three babies. It was amazing.”
The pregnancy was rough, Maria said.
“It was hard,” she said. “The first month I lost 20 pounds.”
During the first trimester, Maria said she was in the hospital nearly every weekend to get fluids.
“After the first trimester everything slowed down,” she said. “The last trimester I couldn’t stop eating.”
Dr. Christina Faulkner said since there were triplets, this was a high risk pregnancy. The first risk was pre-term labor along with a host of other risks including growth restrictions.
Maria carried the babies to 36 weeks and was determined to have them in Emporia where the couple’s families are.
“She told me the babies wouldn’t be born until July,” Faulkner said. “I’m really proud of her.”
Faulkner said Maria was a real trooper and didn’t complain even though she had to have many more visits to monitor the pregnancy than the average woman has during a single fetus pregnancy.
“Maria had a lot of determination,” she said. “It was a really neat experience to take care of her and her family.”
The delivery went well, Dr. Derek Brown, pediatrician said. Brown said originally two of the babies — Jael and Julion — had breathing issues, but are breathing fine now.
Faulkner said the delivery couldn’t have gone better.
The delivering team consisted of Faulkner, obstetrician/gynecologist; Dr. Trish Miller Wood, obstetrician/gynecologist; Dr. Sam Tovar, family practitioner; Brown, pediatrician; and Dr. Christy Jansen, pediatrician, along with 13 other staff members, including anesthesia, surgery staff, and obstetric nurses.
As the only Level II Nursery in a 50 mile radius, Newman Regional Health is equipped and trained to handle multiple births such as the one on Friday.
“These babies were at 36 weeks gestation and are healthy,” says Beau Howe, RN, director of obstetrics at Newman Regional Health. “We are proud of our teamwork during the delivery and wish the parents all the best.”
The babies are both breast and bottle feeding and are responding well, Brown added.
Now that the babies are here, both parents are excited about the future.
“Everything has been great,” Ramses said. “It’s an exciting change of life. It’s the best feeling in the world to say ‘hey, I got three beautiful triplets and they’re all healthy.’”
“I’m excited and overwhelmed,” Maria said. “I’m just really happy.”
A large support system is in place for help the Renterias. They have a large extended family, which will be helping the couple take care of the trio.
“The family helps us get through the day,” Ramses said.