Christmas arrived quietly in St George, Queensland, but for Josephine and Cohen Nunn, it felt nothing short of miraculous.
After more than four months away from home, the couple finally crossed the threshold of their front door with something they had only imagined for weeks—three newborn sons safely in their arms.
For many families, Christmas is about tradition, familiar places, and returning home, but for the Nunns, home itself had been the greatest gift.
Josephine Nunn is no stranger to childbirth.
As a rural doctor, she has helped deliver countless babies, standing beside families in moments of anticipation, fear, and joy.
Yet nothing in her medical training prepared her for the experience of welcoming her own children—especially not three at once.
The journey began months before the boys were born, long before Christmas decorations appeared in shop windows.
At just 23 weeks pregnant, Josephine was advised to leave St George, a small rural town around 500 kilometres south-west of Brisbane, because her pregnancy was considered high-risk.
Leaving home was not easy.
For Josephine, St George was not just where she lived, but where she worked, where she cared for patients, and where she felt deeply connected to the community.
Still, the safety of her babies came first.
She spent seven weeks in Toowoomba, living with her parents while adjusting to life away from her husband, her home, and her familiar routines.
From there, she relocated again, this time to Brisbane, so she could be close to Mater Mothers’ Hospital, where specialist care was available around the clock.
By the time her sons were born, Josephine had spent a total of 16 weeks away from home.
Weeks that felt endless.
Weeks marked by medical appointments, monitoring, and the emotional strain of waiting.
When an early scan first revealed not two babies, but three, the news left the couple stunned.
They had hoped for twins.
Instead, they were expecting non-identical triplets—Louis, Winston, and Maverick—each developing with their own placenta and amniotic sac, a rare and complex pregnancy known as tri-chorionic, tri-amniotic triplets.
As the pregnancy progressed, Josephine’s body carried an extra 8.5 kilograms from babies, placentas, and fluid.
By the final weeks, even simple movement became a challenge.
“By the end, I could get from the bed to the bathroom,” she recalled, “and that was about it.”
She was admitted to hospital more than two weeks before the birth, her days filled with waiting, monitoring, and counting down to a moment she both longed for and feared.
On November 10, at 34 weeks’ gestation, the boys were delivered via Caesarean section.
The operating room was calm, controlled, and filled with professionals who knew exactly what to do, but for Josephine and Cohen, it was overwhelming in the most beautiful way.
Three tiny cries.
Three brand-new lives.
Louis arrived weighing 2.08 kilograms.
Winston followed at 1.99 kilograms.
Maverick, the biggest of the trio, weighed 2.38 kilograms.
For triplets, they were remarkably strong.
Healthy.
Stable.
A best-case outcome after months of uncertainty.
Cohen remembers the relief more than anything else.
“You have to stop and remind yourself how lucky you are,” he said later. “Everything went as well as it possibly could.”
Still, the journey was far from over.
The boys remained under close medical supervision, and Josephine and Cohen adjusted to parenting in hospital rooms, learning feeding schedules and diaper changes while still surrounded by monitors and medical staff.
Eventually, the day came when they could finally leave Brisbane and return home.
The drive back to St George felt longer than usual, every kilometre carrying them closer to the life they had been waiting to begin.
Now home, reality arrived quickly.
Life with triplets is relentless.
Every four hours, day and night, the household springs into motion.
Josephine breastfeeds two babies at once while Cohen bottle-feeds the third with expressed milk.
They repeat the process again and again, around the clock.
On average, they go through two dozen nappies a day.
Sleep comes in fragments, stolen moments rather than full nights.
“It’s not something two people could manage alone,” Cohen admitted. “Without help, you’d be completely exhausted in no time.”
Josephine’s parents travelled to St George to help, becoming an essential part of the household rhythm.
Extra hands mean meals prepared, laundry folded, and brief moments where Josephine and Cohen can pause, breathe, and simply look at their sons.
Despite the exhaustion, gratitude fills their home.
The boys are healthy.
They are gaining weight.
They are beginning to show hints of personality—tiny expressions, subtle differences that make each of them unmistakably their own.
“They’re absolutely beautiful,” Josephine said. “We’re learning something new about them every day.”
Josephine credits the team at Mater Mothers’ Hospital for guiding them through the most intense chapter of their lives, saying the care exceeded anything they expected.
Now, as she settles into motherhood, she is already thinking about balance.
She has worked in St George for five years as a senior medical officer, splitting her time between the local hospital, general practice, and a remote bush clinic in Bollon.
She loves her work.
She loves her community.
And she is determined to return to both, hoping to resume work in early 2023 while still being present for her children.
“I want to enjoy these early years,” she said. “But I also love my job, and I know I can do both.”
Cohen has taken leave from his role at Ergon Energy until March, focusing entirely on caring for the boys and supporting their new family rhythm.
As Christmas approaches, decorations sit quietly in the background, almost forgotten among feeding charts and bassinet arrangements.
There are no elaborate plans.
No big gatherings.
Just a family finally together.
“These boys are the best Christmas present we could have asked for,” Josephine said with a smile.
“Although,” she added gently, “a bit more sleep would be nice too.”
In a year defined by distance, sacrifice, and waiting, the Nunn family has come home.
And this Christmas, surrounded by three tiny reminders of perseverance and love, home is exactly where they are meant to be.
