Love Times Three: Somers couple has triplets

By JACOB DORAN / Bigfork Eagle

When Barry and Stephanie Clark prayed for twins, they had no way of knowing the surprise that would arrive in 33 weeks—not twins, but triplets.

"It was a huge shocker," Barry recalled. "At first, we were kind of in denial. Then, it was, 'Holy cow! We're having triplets! What are we going to do?"

While that reaction is completely understandable to most parents, what continues to astonish many of Barry and Stephanie's friends is the response they have had since the triplets were born.

"We thank God, every day," Stephanie said. "He gave us even more than what we asked for. We prayed for two and we were blessed with three."

Barry agreed, recalling the excitement that soon replaced their shock and the fun that Stephanie had buying three of everything.

"We prayed for two," Barry said. "I don't know what why it shocked us that God gave us three. The fact is that He has blessed us with not two but three healthy children."

The fact that the children were born healthy was indeed a blessing. Due to the high risk of carrying three children, most women seldom carry their triplets longer than 31-32 weeks, which often results in lungs that are not fully developed. However, Stephanie was able to carry the triplets 33 weeks, allowing their lungs the additional time they needed to get stronger.

Consequently, none of the children were born with respiratory problems — or any other major problems, for that matter — despite being premature. With fully developed lungs, they were able to breath room air without assistance from the time they were delivered.

Barrett Ryan, the only boy of the three, was the first to make his appearance on June 17 of this year, weighing four pounds and six ounces. Ryan is the maiden name of Barry's grandmother, who homesteaded with her family about nine miles south of Bigfork, playing an important role in the Bigfork community—Barry's aunt Effie Docksteader (his father's sister) was considered a matriarch in town.

Next came Savannah, weighing four pounds and eight ounces. Savannah was given the middle name Parker, which is Stephanie's maiden name.

Last of all came Lilly Ann, who weighed just three pounds and 10 ounces. Despite being the smallest and last to be born, Lilly was the live wire of the three. She came out screaming to let everyone know she had arrived and was, incidentally, the first of the three to go home.

Because Stephanie's doctor worried about the high risk of her pregnancy, he had counseled her to spend the months leading up to the birth in a larger metropolitan area, where she could receive a high level of care and supervision. For that reason, Barry rented a house in Boise, where they lived for six months, prior to the actual delivery.

As a stroke of fate—or divine orchestration, as Barry and Stephanie now see it—Stephanie found herself giving birth at St. Luke's Children's Hospital, which was the very hospital where her Aunt Kay lay dying. Kay had been like a mother to Stephanie, and when Stephanie learned of her aunt's condition she found it comforting to be in the same hospital, where they were able to visit and show her pictures of the triplets before she passed away.

Her aunt died just four days after the triplets were born, and Barry and Stephanie were able to bring her ashes back with them to their lakefront home, just south of Somers.

Barry and Stephanie purchased their home in 2005, had it remodeled and were married in the back yard in August of 2006 with a picture-perfect backdrop of Flathead Lake and the Swan Mountains. During the wedding, they played the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," because they had found the place — in life, in love and in Flathead Valley Montana — where dreams really do come true.

Now, with three healthy children, the two feel blessed beyond measure, adding that the dream is now complete.

"It was always a dream of mine to live on the Lake, and now it's like I'm living my dream," Barry said. "It's so great to know that my children can have the chance to grow up on the Lake and have the water right there with this incredible view."

Although Stephanie also has a 20-year-old daughter, Supriya, who has already come to see the triplets, the experience of giving birth again after so many years to three at the same time was altogether new. Of course, it was all new for Barry, who has never gone through the experience and didn't know what to expect.

"I really don't know any different, when it comes taking care of one and taking care of three," Barry said. "I just know we're busy."

Actually, Barry recalled thinking how easy it was when they first brought the children home, because all they had to do was feed them and change their diapers, and they slept most of the time. Now, the babies are awake more and consequently need a lot more attention.

Fortunately, Stephanie's niece, Piper Emory, who lives in the Boise/Nampa area, came to spend most of her summer helping out. At the age of 15, Piper was already experienced at helping out and a natural, with twin sisters of her own.

"It's amazing how helpful she has been," Stephanie said. "She's been showing us how to feed three babies at a time. Who would have thought that a 15-year-old would be teaching us how to pick up and hold two babies."

However, Barry was quick to add that Stephanie has proven herself to be an incredible mother, even with so much responsibility. In fact, her love of children and involvement in various mission efforts to help inner-city homeless teenagers in San Diego as well as needy families with small children were some of the things that attracted him to her.

Even after the two married, Stephanie took a mission trip with the Whitefish-based Potter's Field Ranch to an orphanage in El Salvador, where she was so moved with compassion for the children that she cried for eight days at the thought of leaving them.

Barry said his wife's compassion has, in many ways, softened in own heart. And, with the birth of the couple's three little ones he is now privileged to hold and wonder at on a daily basis, his heart is softer than ever.

"She's got a soft spot for kids, and now I do, too," he said.

As for what life is like with triplets, Barry and Stephanie say they don't see it as the horrible, stressful thing that some see it as. Rather, they believe that children are indeed a gift from God and that they have been gifted more than most. In fact, if one child is a blessing, they feel they have been blessed three times over and refuse to be convinced of anything less.

To the Clark family, three times the diapers means three times the love—something they proudly proclaim on a license plate that reads "LOVE X3"

"It's just going to be happy chaos around here, for while," Stephanie said.