Kugluktuk (July 12/04) - Three is a charm for a Kugluktuk couple who recently gave birth to Nunavut's first triplets.

Joanne Kokak and Lenny Hikomak of Kugluktuk welcomed their three girls: Gracie, Sophie and Faith into the world at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on May 22.

The triplets were born prematurely at 27 and a half weeks. Gracie weighed just two pounds, 12 ounces; Sophie three pounds, two ounces; and Faith was two pounds, nine ounces.

"I don't remember half that day when they were born," Hikomak said.

He was the typical nervous father, pacing the room before the babies were born.

Kokak recalled talking on a speaker phone from her hospital room.

"Lenny said he was anxious," she said. "He was nervous."

"I was phoning home a lot," Hikomak added.

Kokak knew she was having triplets after an ultrasound when she was four months pregnant.

Full house

The couple already has three children at home: Recas James, 9, Tara Jane, 8, and Cathie, 3.

Kokak said having triplets felt, "the same as any other pregnancy, except I was bigger."

Nurse Liz Kingdon said the concern with small babies is always the same at the Royal Alexandra, "With their breathing, their head, and their heart."

The Alberta hospital is where all high-risk pregnancies from the Western Arctic are transferred.

"These three girls have done very well," she said. "There are no concerns with any of them. And as you can see from the pictures they are all good looking."

Gracie was born first at 2:35 p.m.; Sophie at 2:37 and Faith at 2:39.

The couple will find out if the girls are identical once the siblings reach two years old. If the parents don't feel like waiting that long, however, blood tests can also determine if the babies are identical.

When asked if they can already tell the difference between their new additions, the parents answered a resounding: "Yes!"

The girls each have their own unique characteristics, both agreed.

"Sophie is the biggest one," said Kokak. "Gracie is similar to Sophie, but she is smaller. And Faith has a cleft lip and palate, so I can tell."

Agnes Kokak, the girls' grandmother, is adopting Sophie. Her husband, Tom, died in February and she has been grieving since. The triple-birth, and especially the thought of Sophie coming into her life, has lifted her spirits, Kokak relays.

"She has been dreaming of having a baby girl, even before she found out I was having three girls," she said.

The family at home in Kugluktuk can hardly wait for their return in a few weeks.

The hospital in Edmonton recently tried to arrange a tele-health meeting over a television screen so everyone back home in Kugluktuk could see the babies, but the link went down at the last minute.

Kingdon said the hospital plans to try again.

Not cheap

Triplets are as expensive as they are rare. Keeping them well fed and in diapers won't be easy.

The Northern Store in Kugluktuk has provided free diapers and formula to the family while other donations are being accepted by the hamlet office. Private and corporate contributions are welcome.