Amanda and Chad Doss welcomed home their daughters, Avery, Bentley, and Cassidy, and the couple is following one simple mantra for dealing with three identical babies: “Keep calm, they’re only triplets.” One thing that’s easing life with their rare set of naturally occurring identical triplets is a pink Sharpie marker.
The girls have tiny differences that enable their parents to just barely tell them apart. One of Bentley’s eyelids has a red mark, and Cassidy has a prominent vein on her nose, though it is starting to fade. The infants are changing almost daily, though, so after bath time the Dosses reach for the marker. “We keep their initials on the bottom of their feet with Sharpie just in case they wake up one morning and those (facial) marks are gone,” Amanda explained.
By all accounts, the Franklin, Ind., couple is adjusting to their new life since the girls joined the family, which also includes Chad’s kids from a previous marriage, Caleb, 12, and Kaitlyn, 9. After he and Amanda married in 2011, he decided to get his vasectomy reversed in order to expand his family “just a little bit.” The naturally occurring triplets were a welcome surprise. The triplets, born about two months early on Dec. 30, thrived in the hospital and went home on Jan. 29, still about a month before Amanda’s due date. “It was a little nerve-wracking but very exciting at the same time,” says Amanda.
The Dosses have become a family of seven in a three-bedroom home, with each baby in her own crib in the master bedroom. The couple has settled into a routine, sharing parenting and household duties with regular help from relatives. The parents say they are tired and that life is busy, but they are overjoyed by their daughters, who are matter-of-fact about the daily grind. “For the most part, it’s not as difficult as I thought it was going to be,” Amanda says. “I pictured mass chaos in my head. Now, at this infant stage, they’re pretty easy to take care of. It feels like being a mom. There are three little babies who need me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Friends tell Chad they are surprised at how smoothly their lives seem to be going, expecting a house filled with constant screaming and disorder. People frequently comment on Amanda’s appearance and how relaxed she appears, though she is aware that things may change. “I know I’ll get more frazzled and tired later on when they’re mobile and wanting to be on the go all the time,” Amanda says.
While having just one baby can try a new parent’s patience, Amanda says she handles her three by trying to stick to a schedule and not letting herself get stressed out. For Chad, it’s the cooperative spirit they share, with one taking over when the other is too pooped to function. “We’re both so good at helping each other out,” Chad says. “We want each other to be happy. That love between us is the biggest thing that keeps us going.” Caleb and Kaitlyn are also enjoying their baby sisters. “Our two older kids just love them to pieces and offer to help all the time,” Amanda says.
