From zero to six kids in three years

By: CATHY REDFERN - Staff Writer
Sun City couple brings home triplets | Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:50 PM PST ∞

SUN CITY ---- It was not that long ago when Richard and Amy Hill thought they might be unable to have children.

The Sun City couple Thursday brought home its sixth child, a triplet. Little Noah has five brothers and sisters under age 3; his two sisters came home earlier this week.

The two married less than five years ago, and soon after, doctors said they would need fertility treatments to conceive. So Amy Hill, 28, began hormone treatments, she said.

Twins Conner and Leah were born Feb. 10, 2005. Next came Zachary, a surprise who arrived on Aug. 2, 2006. Doctors then warned that Hill might need to have a hysterectomy, she said. The couple decided to try for one more girl, a sister for Leah.

Again, Hill said, with the help of fertility treatments, she became pregnant.

Claire, Megan and Noah were born Jan. 12, about six weeks early.

"Bonus babies, about 15 pounds of them," Mom said, looking pale but happy Thursday at the family's five-bedroom home. The interior design is marked by what she calls "staging areas." Those areas are full of baby seats, baby gates, bassinets, toys, stray shoes and socks, bottles, boxes of diapers, a neatly printed schedule tacked to a board on a wall.

Hill said she feels blessed, though it has been a rough year.

When she realized she was pregnant, her husband was in the hospital, she said. Richard Hill, 35, an officer with the Vernon Police Department, was in a car crash during a vehicle pursuit, he said. He suffered head, shoulder and sternum injuries.

About 10 weeks later, she lost one of the four babies she was initially carrying. After that, she was hospitalized with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness. Later, she was put on bed rest, showed signs of preeclampsia and then got the flu, which produced symptoms of early labor.

"I don't think we would have survived all this without family and friends," she said. "But I wanted them close together. We're the Brady Bunch without the (second) marriage."

Hill said her mother lives nearby and that her mother-in-law, who lives in La Mirada, was coming to help also, as were aunts and friends. Members of a Sun City Mormon Church the couple attends were helping too, as were members of Calvary Chapel in Murrieta.

Richard Hill, now recovered from his injuries, said twins run in his family.

"It will be fine ---- at least once we get through the diaper stage," he said. "We've been able to handle the kids so far, and it will be fun for them growing up together."

He said the delivery of the triplets was more stressful than the first two births, because Noah was quiet and it was unclear if he was breathing.

"This is the only one where I almost passed out," he said. "Being a police officer, you come across all types of scenes, but when it's your own family, it's a whole different thing."

Amy Hill laughed, remembering how she was not sure she wanted children when she first got married, but that her husband "turned me over to the dark side."

She said she feels for those who can't afford the fertility treatments, and that they were fortunate their insurance covered part of it. She dreams of starting a nonprofit to help parents who can't afford the treatments.

She said the triplets have not been fussy.

"It's doable ----- especially when they begin sleeping through the night," she said. "After that, it's a matter of good schedules. It's worth it."

Conner, who is almost 3, reached out a small hand to touch his sister.

"They're here," he said.

Contact staff writer Cathy Redfern at (951) 676-4315, ext. 2621, or credfern@californian.com.

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