Triplets Head Home from St. Mary's in Richmond Heights

Three triplets born at in Richmond Heights were headed home Thursday, nearly two months after their delivery.

The three Clemonds babies—Teegan Tyler, Chloe Aundrea and Hadley Lynn—arrived April 5 and spent some time in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit before going home in stages. Teegan got to leave first, followed by Chloe and, on Thursday, Hadley.

"If I can handle these two crying, what's another one?" their mom, Jessie Clemonds, joked. She and her husband, Christopher, 34, live in Elsberry, MO. She arrived at the hospital Jan. 5 and spent three months on bed rest before her delivery.

The couple conceived using in vitro fertilization.

"I was shocked but excited," Jessie Clemonds said about learning they would be having triplets.

Christopher Clemonds wasn't completely surprised.

"You start messing with fire, you get burned," he said, laughing.

The triplets were delivered by C-section at about 5 a.m. April 5. Teegan weighed 2 pounds, 15 ounces; his sisters weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces and 2 pounds, 18 ounces.

Hospital staff threw a shower for Jessie Clemonds during her stay. They gave her 2,023 diapers and nearly as many wipes. At six diapers per child per day, the diapers are expected to last about three months.

The five were headed home Thursday and planned to stop at Jessie Clemonds' aunt's house in Winfield, MO, for dinner.

Keirsten Schneider, a charge nurse and care team specialist, brought Teegan from the delivery room to the nursery.

"He was probably the most stubborn," Schneider joked. That's because of the two siblings who had to go on oxygen, Teegan spent the longest on it.

The couple aren't planning to have more children at this point: Christopher Clemonds also has a 9-year-old son.

But he said he is ready to be with the three new kids.

"It's time to man up," Christopher Clemonds said. "I'm good to go."