WHEATLAND – Forty years ago on June 20, 1978, my husband Don and I arrived at the new Torrington Hospital for the delivery of our third child. We had driven over from Wheatland that morning and expected a routine delivery, although I had certainly gotten much larger than with my previous two children, Darren Joseph born Nov. 30, 1973, in Torrington and Dalee Ilene born Sept. 2, 1975, in Wheatland. 

I was often teased I must be having twins, but during my medical appointments, only one heartbeat was heard.

The afternoon dragged on and around 6 p.m. that evening, Dr. Rutt arrived, rather miffed that he was going to miss his daughter’s ball game. But things were moving so slowly, he left to attend it anyway.

After midnight, June 21, things really started to happen. I was taken to the delivery room and our son was born, 21 1/2 inches, 7 lbs. 13 oz. at 1:22 a.m. However, it was quickly discovered another baby was on the way. 

He was in a breech position and had to be delivered as quickly as possible. Thanks to the skill of everyone, our second son, 20 inches, 8 lbs. 2 oz. was born at 1:31 a.m.

While most of the medical staff were preoccupied caring for the surprise twins, we had another big surprise. A nurse standing near me said, “Oh my gosh, there’s another one.” Our third son, 21 inches, 7 lbs. 5 oz. was born at 1:40 a.m.

After wracking our brains for enough names, my husband and I named the boys Donald William Junior, David Ray (Ray was Dr. Rutt’s middle name), and Daniel Charles (Charles was my grandpa Bixby’s name).

Some amazing facts about the births: The boys were a complete surprise and were all born naturally as full-term babies. Their combined lengths were 62.5 inches, a height equivalent to 5 feet, 2 inches. I lost 50 pounds during the births. We were all dismissed to go back to Wheatland on June 23 with the boys needing no extra care or extended hospital stays. A true miracle. 

From June to November, we had five kids aged 4 and under—Darren-4, Dalee-2, and three babies. (No, I did not take fertility pills – a question often asked).

And you might not realize this, but this birth will possibly put Torrington on the map. According to the latest Guinness World Book of Records 2018, the largest triplets born in the U.S. are in Colorado weighing 22 pounds, 12 ounces. Don, Dave, and Dan weighed 23 pounds, 4 ounces. We are currently pursuing the process to have our triplets listed as the largest ever born in the U.S. and will list Torrington as their place of birth, of course.

We were sorry to hear of Dr. Rutt’s death. We believe it was only his skill and the professionalism of everyone in the delivery room that night that saved our boys from serious medical problems.