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Each morning Maria Munkowits looks at the three little boys whose spontaneous��conception made her a first-time mum��at 38 and a familiar feeling washes over.��

“One in 10,000″, the��Auckland��mum says of the statistical chance her and partner Ollie Ward would��conceive triplets��naturally.��

“So it will never not be surprising. Every day I wake up and look at them and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, there’s three’.”��

Auckland triplets, from left, Eli, Casey and Ari Ward turned one on Friday. Photo / Dean Purcell��

It was on Friday, one year ago, Casey, Eli and Ari came into the couple’s lives by caesarean section, in that order, and a minute apart.��

The babies’ premature arrival at 27 weeks and three days’ gestation meant Munkowits and Ward were head of a��family��of five before the couple’s one-year anniversary the following month.��

“It’s funny how time works, because some things just feel like there’s been a lifetime,” Munkowits said.��

“And then”, she said, noting the whirlwind of the last two years, “it’s crazy.”��

Parents Ollie Ward and Maria Munkowits welcomed their prematurely-born triplets, from left, Ari, Eli, and Casey less than a year after they became a couple. Photo / Dean Purcell��

The��Herald��first met the��Ward triplets��when the trio were discharged from��Starship Hospital��115 days after their birth, and just in time for Christmas.��

Then, they weighed between 3.9kg and 4.7kg, up from between 750g and 900g��(1lb 10oz - 1lb 15oz)��at birth.��

At their last paediatrician appointment a few weeks ago each had grown to around 7kg or 8kg each - “good, healthy weights”, Munkowits said.��

“They’re still little, and they look like the tiniest 1-year-olds ever. But they’re all good.”��

The prematurely-born Ward triplets, from left, Ari, Eli and Casey, pictured aged 4 months just after they came home from hospital in time for Christmas last year. Photo / Jason Oxenham��

From left, Auckland triplets Ari, Eli, and Casey Ward pictured a day before their first birthday on Friday. Photo / Dean Purcell��

Until they’re 2, the triplets’ health and milestones would be checked on their “corrected” age - currently nine months, based on their full-term due date.��

So far, they’re doing well, she said.��

“All their checks - hearing, eyes, brain - everything was totally fine.”��

Only their lungs were “a little bit compromised”, a common ailment in premature babies, but all had been fortunate to escape the worst winter ills so far, Munkowits said.��

“We’ve had colds and little viruses here and there, but nothing major or scary. So that’s been really lucky.”��

Triplet life is a rotation of feeding, sleeping, cuddles, play, outings - two in a double pram, one strapped to mum’s chest - and, of course, nappy changing.��

“There’s been a lot of nappies”, Munkowits said, estimating each baby still went through around five a day.��

“Even having two adults, three babies is a lot. But if it’s just me with all three of them, I feel like I need to be an octopus - literally, you need more pairs of hands.”��

Ari, Casey and Eli are pictured with their parents Ollie Ward and Maria Munkowits after going home aged 4 months. Photo / Jason Oxenham��

Auckland parents Ollie Ward and Maria Munkowits have made it through the first year of raising their triplet sons, from left, Ari, Eli and Casey. Photo / Dean Purcell��

Ward works as a construction project manager, with yoga teacher Munkowits a stay-at-home mum, but the couple have also been able to employ a nanny three days a week thanks to Government funding for parents of multiples.��

“She’s fantastic and has helped us so much … it also means I can sneak out and teach a yoga class here and there, and do my old life stuff.”��

It also helped that all three boys were “good sleepers”, after the couple stuck to the schedule the babies were on during their first four months in hospital, Munkowits said.��

“If I can get enough sleep, which I do, I can handle anything during the day.”��

Auckland dad Ollie Ward got inked for his first Father's Day after triplet sons Casey, Ari, and Eli were born in August last year. Photo / Jason Oxenham��

Meanwhile, their little lads have been mastering their milestones, from fine motor skills to baby talk.��

There’s also lots of “toothy smiles” times three, and there’ll likely be “a crawler” among the bunch pretty soon, she said.��

“The biggest one Eli, he’s sort of the first to do everything. And then it’s Casey. Then Ari. You can kind of see it go down the line.”��

The Ward triplets, from left, Eli, Casey and Ari, are hitting their milestones and doing well a year after their premature birth, mum Maria Munkowits says. Photo / Dean Purcell��

As well as their different looks - the brothers are fraternal triplets - the trio have unique personalities, she said.��

“Eli, he’s like the big, gentle giant. Super friendly, loves people. Casey, he’s a little bit more cautious, a little bit shy, but a real observer.��

“And then Ari is kind of like the wild child. He gets the look in his eye. Smallest, but mightiest.”��

The biggest lesson in her first year of multiples’��motherhood��was to be “really present”.��

“You can get caught up in, ‘Are they gaining enough weight? What are they eating? How many nappies do I need to buy?’��

“But I’m trying to remind myself to actually enjoy them, and enjoy them individually as well as together. Just make that a priority, rather than the chores and the admin of baby stuff.”��

Life has changed since their triplets were born, but 'in the best way', Auckland mum Maria Munkowits says. Photo / Dean Purcell��

She was wary about giving other new��parents advice, “because I was overloaded with so much”, instead encouraging them to be their own guide.��

“Listen to your intuition and do whatever works best for you and your family. Nobody’s the same, and everyone will have a different experience.”��

Like all parents, her and Ward’s lives were now “completely different”.��

“But in the best way. And I feel like it’s just gonna get better.”��

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.��