Exeter triplets Richard, Michael and Lee Channing who each weighed less than a bag of sugar at birth, are celebrating their 18th birthdays today.
The boys were a wonderful and early surprise for parents Jodie and Roger Channing.
It was a dream-come-true for Jodie when she discovered she was pregnant for it followed three years of fertility treatment
Initially she was expecting quadruplets and the couple's joy was cut short when doctors advised Jodie and her husband, Roger, to abort two of her babies to increase the chance of giving birth to twins.
Part of the decision was taken out of the Exeter couple's hands when a heartbeat couldn't be found for one of the four at Jodie's third scan.
Unable to choose between the remaining three, Jodie went ahead with the pregnancy — its outcome left to fate.
Nearly 27 weeks into the pregnancy she went into labour. During the emergency caesarian, she gave birth to premature triplets.
The babies were due on March 4 but were born on December 4 — three months premature. They held the record of being the most premature babies born in the world for six months, and missed out on a place in the Guinness Book of Records by just one day.
Jodie didn't hold them until four days after their birth and it was a further three months before they could finally take them back to their Pinhoe home.
