Crystal Lake woman delivers triplet girls

It wasn't quite the same odds as winning the lottery or drawing a royal flush, but to Katie Coss the result was just as sweet.The 29-year-old Crystal Lake mom on Wednesday was all smiles in Sherman Hospital's special care nursery as she showed off her identical triplet girls.On Sept. 6, Coss and her husband, Casey, welcomed Ashley, Chloe and Hannah into the world at the Elgin hospital.Statistically, triplets and other multiples, excluding twins, accounted for 7,275 births in the United States in 2004, the latest year available from the National Center for Health Statistics. That's roughly 177 births for every 100,000, according to the center.The fact that the Cosses had their identical triplets without benefit of fertility drugs makes them rarer still, she said. The little girls have had lots of visitors so far and are used to being the center of attention. They didn't even flinch when news photographers began shooting away.The girls all have light brown hair and blue eyes -- their mother uses their sizes, personalities and a small bump on Hannah's left ear to tell them apart. She knew she was having triplets two months into her pregnancy, but it wasn't until a week after they were born that she learned they were identical. "It'll hit me even more tomorrow when I bring the first one home," she said.The triplets were born roughly two months premature and have been receiving extra attention in the hospital ever since. Before they were born, doctors gave them medicine to help their lungs mature, said Dr. Raja Chatterji, chief of the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department.Ashley, the oldest of the three, weighed in at 3 pounds, 8 ounces; Hannah was 3 pounds, 14 ounces; and Chloe was 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Ashley was born at 5:54 p.m. on Sept. 6, and her sisters followed a minute later. Chatterji says the babies should do great. "I just feel so lucky that they're here and healthy," their mom said, noting that she had a pleasant pregnancy. Multiple births run in the Coss family and should come as no surprise. Coss' mother, Mary Fetzer, is a twin, and Casey has cousins who are twins. These are the first children for Katie Coss and her husband. But they're Fetzer's second, third and fourth grandkids. Three months ago, her daughter-in-law provided the first."So we got four babies in two months, so our family grew," Fetzer said. Meanwhile, the family is ready to bring their little bundles of joy home. Coss, a special education teacher at Glacier Ridge Elementary School in Crystal Lake, is taking a year off to raise her little girls. She and Casey have color-coded their daughters' cribs, bottles and other items to help tell them apart and have also hired a nanny to help out three times a week. One thing they won't need for now are diapers. Thanks to three baby showers, she has a room filled with them. Hannah is coming home Thursday. Her sisters should be joining her within two weeks. "My birthday is Oct. 14," Coss said. "All I want is them home, so that's the goal." 512450Hannah, Ashley, Chloe were born about two months premature and have been in the hospital since their Sept. 6 birthday. Doctors say they'll be fine and Hannah is going home today.Brian Hill | Staff Photographer