Triplets who were due on Christmas Day are home in time for first Christmas after arriving two months early

Meet the miracle triplets who are home in time for their first Christmas - after arriving two months early and spending five weeks in hospital.

Little Emil, Ava, and Alba Wise, now six-weeks-old, who were due to be born on Christmas Day, have finally been able to leave the hospital after arriving at 32 weeks on Wednesday November 1.

Their proud parents Hannah Gurney, aged 36, and her partner, Chris Wise, age 38, a sports broadcaster, had planned a caesarean section at 34 weeks but Hannah went into labour a fortnight early. Ten hours later, they welcomed Emil, Ava, and Alba - weighing 3lbs 3oz, 3lbs 2oz and 3lbs 1.5oz respectively.

After spending five weeks in intensive care gaining strength and growing, the babies were discharged on Tuesday December 5 2023, just in time for the festive season. Hannah and Chris have now brought their triplets home and are ready to spend a quiet Christmas as a family of five.

Hannah, head of media at Action Aid, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, said: "It was amazing to find out I was pregnant with three babies. I did struggle at the beginning, it took a long time to get my head around the fact that there would be three babies in my stomach. Physically it was really difficult at the beginning, then I felt really good within myself in the final few weeks.

"Their due date was originally Christmas Day but there was no way we would have been able to deliver them on time. it is absolutely amazing to have them home, it was so emotional bringing them out of the hospital. It is so hard to have them in the neonatal intensive care unit. We are finally getting to know their little personalities."

Hannah was visiting her parents, Mike, age 76, and Vicky Gurney, age 74, in Castel, Guernsey, when she found out she was expecting and called Chris to tell him the news. Once Hannah got home, she did another pregnancy test to be certain.

Chris said: "I got a call at 6am, it was amazing. Hannah was coming back that day and we did another test to make sure it was as it seemed. We had been trying for two months, but it had been something more than a year in the planning to get to the point where we knew we wanted to become parents."

At eight weeks, the couple decided to have a private scan as Hannah's parents were visiting and they wanted to tell them in person that they were going to be grandparents. They also were keen to break the news to Chris' parents - Mary, age 65, and Mark Wise, age 64.

During the scan, the sonographer's hands started to shake and Hannah and Chris immediately thought the worst but she revealed the pair were expecting triplets. Hannah said: "We didn't know what to expect at the scan - it felt like the specialist was taking ages. When the sonographer stopped she turned to us and she was shaking, we were expecting bad news.

"She had never been in the position before that she found triplets, it was a big moment for her and an even bigger moment for us. I had a nervous laugh, I started laughing right away. She turned to the screen and pointed out the different places where the babies were. I burst out crying, there were a lot of emotions."

Hannah said she found the first trimester really difficult and suffered from extreme sickness and exhaustion until she was 16 weeks pregnant. During the pregnancy, she had more than 20 pregnancy scans to make sure the triplets were progressing well. Hannah was given a due date of December 25, 2023, but was told she would never carry them to full term.

She said: "When we found out we were expecting, we were fast-tracked to see a midwife and a consultant. We had a lot of conversations about the risk. We were very aware that there were so many risks involved with carrying three and a further risk with that the two of them were sharing one placenta. We had planned a c-section for November 16, when I was 34 weeks. They wouldn't allow me to go to full term due to it being triplets."

Hannah ended up going into labour two weeks early, on Tuesday October 31, 2023. After a meal, Hannah started to get cramps which became more frequent and she was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. She said: "When we got to the hospital, they monitored me and checked all the babies. "I was convinced that the cervix was still closed and then the midwife checked and I was 4cm dilated and we were like 'OK, this is happening'. They managed to slow the contractions down and we had the c-section at 10am on November 1, 2023."

Emil, Ava and Alba were born 120 seconds apart on Tuesday November 1, 2023. Chris said: "We went in at midnight and we were up all night waiting to see how long Hannah could hold out for. We needed to wait for a steroid injection to get the babies which would help their lungs develop.

"There was a worry, my primary concern was that Hannah was calm. We didn't know what the sexes of the babies were - we kept it as a surprise. Once the babies were born, I was able to take off their towels and see what sexes they were. Nothing will be able to beat that feeling - it was magical."

Emil, Ava and Alba were taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where they stayed for five weeks before they were able to come home. Hannah is now documenting the triplet's journey on an Instagram page called @triplets_by_the_sea.

Hannah said: "I think Amil is a complete character already, he is definitely the one that wants more attention and cuddles. The girls are both really determined, Ava is the gentler twin and Alba is a little firecracker. It will be nice to see how they develop and grow."

Chris said: "It is difficult to tell them apart, the only real way you can determine the difference is the head shape but as days go by their head shape gets very similar. We currently have little labels around their feet to tell who is who."