Meet the 'rarest triplets in the world' - these brave little boys have just made history

Welcoming three very special boys changed this family's life.

Having one baby is wonderful, having three can be quite a challenge, as Amy and Mike Howard discovered.

The couple was very excited to discover they were pregnant, then a routine ultrasound revealed they were expecting identical twins...and one more. Amy was carrying triplets, revealed SoShareThis.com on the 14th of June 2017.

Triplets have become quite common as a result of fertility treatments where multiple embryos are implanted to improve the chances of a successful pregnancy, but naturally conceived triples is very rare indeed.

The babies were born - three bouncing baby boys - and then things got even stranger and more challenging. The three babies were diagnosed with the same very rare birth defect.

“Your skull is made up of plates, it’s not a single bone. If the seams join together too early, the brain can be put under pressure."

Dr. David Chesler, SoShareThis.com on the 14th of June 2017.

Just a few days after Hunter, Jackson and Kaden were born, doctors noticed something wasn’t quite right with their heads. The identical twins, Hunter and Jackson's skulls protruded in the back, and their fraternal brother, Kaden, had a pointy forehead.

The experts were called in to examine the trio and were astounded to diagnose a rare skull condition called craniosynostosis. This congenital defect causes the bones in a newborn’s skull to fuse together too early and place pressure on the growing brain.

Craniosynostosis occurs in only 1 in 2,500 births. So, for three siblings to have this same defect is unheard of, and this is the first recorded case where triplets share this same rare condition.

At the age of 11 weeks Hunter, Jackson, and Kaden underwent surgery on their skulls. Dr. David Chesler was the pediatric neurosurgeon who operated on the boys and explained that the procedure was imperative if brain damage was to be prevented.

All three boys recovered well, and though they are possibly going to need further surgical interventions, are growing happy and healthy.