3 times the elation

When relatives and friends flock to see a newborn baby, everyone eagerly waits a turn to hold the little one. This isn't a problem at the Nashes' -- there's enough to go around.

"It's 'pick a baby, any baby,'" said Dianne Nash with a laugh as she and her husband, John, held their three-week-old triplets earlier this week.

Outside, an October wind blew over the hay fields, a herd of musk oxen huddled in a group and a mule foal galloped around the yard. Indoors in a cozy upstairs nursery, John and Dianne adjusted to their new life -- one revolving around a three-hour schedule of feeding, changing and comforting three tiny newborns.

Nathan, Madison and Makayla Nash were born Sept. 23 at Providence Hospital, and earlier this month their parents brought them home to their Lazy Mountain farm.

"It's getting a lot easier now," Dianne. She cradled two of the triplets in her arms while on the couch next to her John fed a bottle to the third.

Each infant weighs less than 4-and-a-half pounds, but they are already displaying their unique temperament, the parents say. Nathan and Madison are easy going and rarely fuss.

"But Makayla -- she lets you know when she's hungry," Dianne said.

With exactly three weeks of practice, the Nashes have developed a tag-team system to deal with such outcries.

"It's kind of a two-person job, really," John Nash said as he prepared to trade babies with his wife. "You could do it alone, but you'd be feeding babies all the time."

Bottles were filled, diapers changed and babies handed off with such precision it seems impossible that less than a month ago John and Dianne had no children.

But the Nash triplets have been long awaited. For years, John and Dianne wanted to have children and were unable. Last year, they went to California to a fertility specialist and decided to go ahead with in-vitro fertilization.

The odds weren't largely in their favor. Doctors told them there was a less than 50-percent chance that any of the embryos would survive, and 25 percent that two would make it. The probability that the Nashes would be blessed with all three -- less than 5 percent.

Not only did all three arrive, by they all arrived healthy and beautiful.

The Nashes said the C-section delivery did have its tense moments.

"At the time we were kind of scared," John Nash admitted. He said he was especially concerned when the doctors intubated one of the triplets for a respirator. But the parents were reassured this wasn't all that unusual with triplets and that the babies were doing all fine.

"And then we were excited," John said.

The babies were kept at the hospital a week, less than doctors originally anticipated. While the Nashes were anxious to get home with their new family, they said the time at the hospital enabled the babies to get on a feeding and sleeping schedule, and the parents got some preparation time before doing it alone.

For a farm family, the triplets' births came at a near-perfect time. Hay cutting season is over and the two parents can now devote almost all their time to the three newborns.

Back at their Lazy Mountain farm, the Nashes have had to make some accommodations. John has added on to the house, although there is still some work to be done.

There are now three cribs in the house, and a mini-van or Suburban is in their future.

Friends and relatives have helped make the transition easier with gifts of diapers -- much needed considering they go through 24 diapers a day -- baby clothes and other necessities, as well as homemade meals for the parents.

John and Dianne Nash admit that even with the extra help, the first few weeks as parents of triplets were overwhelming. But now that they have settled into a routine, they seemed at ease with their new roles.

"I think it's better than I imagined … I think I was imagining the worst," John said.

The fact that they cared for a single infant before the triplets arrived might be making it easier for them, they said. As they juggle three of everything, they have never experienced just taking care of one.

"We just don't know any better," Dianne said.