2 Pair Get Full House Sacred Heart Medical Center’s Neonatal Unit Plays Host To Two Sets Of Triplets - At The Same Time

Talk about proud parents.

The Reddens and Tataryns are three times as proud as most.

In a rare coincidence, each couple had healthy triplet sons last month at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

On Monday, the parents and babies - 10 family members in all - posed for pictures at Sacred Heart’s neonatal intensive care unit.

“It is a real blessing - a dream,” said Rod Tataryn, father of Alexander, Christian and Nicholas.

Their mother, Carol Tataryn, said the experience was so emotional that after giving birth on March 3, “I cried every time I saw them.”

The second set of triplets belongs to Rick and Michelle Redden. Bradford, Derek and Jacob were born March 22.

Both families are from Spokane.

Although Sacred Heart frequently handles multiple births, this is the first time the neonatal unit had two sets of triplets at the same time.

All six children are doing well, and in the next few days, the first of the babies may go home.

The mothers learned early in their pregnancies they were having triplets from ultrasound exams. Carol Tataryn and Michelle Redden were introduced and have become friends.

“When we were having a hard time, we’d call each other on the phone,” Michelle Redden said.

Carol Tataryn, who underwent a fertility implant with her own eggs to become pregnant, was forced to spend 14 weeks in bed.

“You read. You lie in bed. You watch TV. You listen to music,” she said.

The gynecologist who performed the implant told her the chance of one baby being born from the procedure was about 30 percent, she said.

She was under medication to prevent premature delivery, yet gave birth 11 weeks early. Her smallest baby weighed just under 2 pounds. All three of her babies now weigh about 4 pounds.

Michelle Redden had her babies eight weeks early after conceiving naturally and spending three months at home in bed.

Two of the Redden boys, Bradford and Jacob, are identical, meaning they came from the same egg, which divided after conception. Derek is a fraternal brother, conceived from a separate egg.

Rick Redden, an assistant football coach at Eastern Washington University, said he was hoping for a boy. “You always hope for at least one son,” he said. “I’ve got my own Hoopfest.”

Hoopfest is the three-on-three basketball tournament held in Spokane each June.

Now that she has three infants to take care of, Michelle Redden, 33, said she isn’t sure she will return to her job as a first-grade teacher at Blair Elementary School at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Carol Tataryn, 28, a dental hygienist who met her husband at dental school, said she’s going to become a full-time mom. Rod Tataryn is an endodontist, specializing in dental root treatment.

The two mothers said they plan to continue their friendship. Both got three-seat strollers for their kids, and they are hoping to take the boys out shopping together when they are old enough.

“We’ll be quite the sight,” Michelle Redden said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AGAINST THE ODDS The odds of triplets being born is about one in 9,000, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Twins come once in every 90 births.