Premier League commentator Chris Wise and partner Hannah bring premature triplets home in time for Christmas

However, the triplets arrived eight weeks early, all weighing barely 3lb each. Now after a stint in Queen Alexandra Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) they are home safe and well​.

And as proud dad Chris, 38, says: “To have them home now is the best Christmas present you could ask for.”

Chris, a TV and radio football commentator, and Hannah, a charity’s head of media, found out at just nine weeks that they were expecting triplets.

“We went for a private scan at about nine weeks because Hannah's mum and dad are from Guernsey and they were coming over to England so we wanted to be able to tell them in person that we were having a baby.

“The sonographer was taking an age, and we didn't have the screen on and nobody was saying anything. You're feeling quite uptight anyway, but I turned to face the sonographer and her hand was shaking. You're immediately thinking: this is going to be awful news, then she said: ‘I can see a heartbeat, but you need to know I can see three of them’.

“It was probably the first time in my life where I felt like I was l looking down on the situation and it's not 'you' – it was such an out of body experience. You never go to these scans thinking there's going to be more than one child in there!

“Two would have been a huge shock but three was just mind-blowing. It took a few weeks just to absorb and process that information.”

From there it was a rollercoaster of numerous scans and appointments. Hannah also had bad morning sickness, followed by a period of total exhaustion.

“It was really quite debilitating”, says Chris, 38. “She just spent days in bed because she was so wiped out. It was so tough for her, but once she came through that, and critically, once we'd got past 20 weeks – that's a big milestone – she began feel stronger physically and mentally, and the longer the pregnancy went on the stronger we felt about the chances of there being a positive outcome at the end.”

The plan had been to induce the triplets at 34 weeks, but there is always the risk with multiple births that they may come early. It was late on Halloween night that Hannah developed cramps so Chris drove her to QA to be checked over as a precaution.

"We'd been in a couple of times already, and I remember thinking as they put the monitors on Hannah: ‘I reckon I might be back in bed by 2.30am here’,” he laughs at the memory.

It soon became clear that nothing was going to delay the babies’ arrival and on the morning of November 1, Hannah was taken into the delivery room.

"Even though it was an emergency C-section we felt like it was all under control.

"It was the most magical experience I could ever have asked for. We didn't know what we were having – we knew two of them were identical twins, but we didn't know any of the sexes.

“When they came out, relatively speaking, they were in a good way and they were able to bring the babies over to me so I could take their towels off to reveal their sexes. Nothing that has gone before will ever beat that moment.”

Before the newborns were whisked off to NICU where they were put in incubators, Hannah was also able to have a quick cuddle. “We weren't sure if we'd get that skin-to-skin. For most newborns they get longer than that with their mums, but we knew the situation.”

Thankfully the triplets, twin girls Ava and Alba, and boy Emil, made swift progress in NICU. But the new parents weren’t sure how long their babies would have to stay on the unit for.

"We weren't sure if they'd be home for Christmas or not. As much as you don't want it to be, that became a bit of a landmark date. We went very quickly from ‘we don't know how long you're going to be in here for’, to ‘you need to think about taking them home in the next few days’. It caught us on the hop a little bit. We were ready to go at home, we just weren't anticipating that they'd make progress as quickly as they did.”

After 35 days they were able to return together to their Southsea home.

“It was wonderful moment. It does put such an emotional strain on you being in there. It's such a hard thing to go through, being in that hospital every day, seeing them on the other side of a plastic case, not being able to have that normal contact with them like you would if you'd been able to take your child home straight away.

“Looking back now, those five weeks feel like a bit of a blur.”

“This is where the journey really starts!”

Chris has yet to take any paternity leave and he says life is “hectic.”

“My life at the moment is swinging between preparing for games, commentating on games, feeding babies and changing nappies – that's all I'm doing at the moment!

“I'm very grateful that Hannah is as good as she is with them, and as patient as she is, because it's really tough. The fact that she's allowing me to continue to work and find that balance has been amazing.

“Hannah is doing amazingly well. To carry a baby is a huge ask for any woman, but to carry three is extraordinary. It's been a really tough year for her. It wasn't a 'normal' pregnancy, it was tough and the emotional and physical strain was massive but she's taken it all in her stride. Even in these first few weeks, she's shown what a wonderful mum she's going to be. I'm really proud of her and how quickly she's adapted to the situation.”

The family have opted to have a quiet Christmas with just the five of them, as the babies remain quite vulnerable.

"We're limiting our exposure to other people at the moment,’ Chris explains. “I've got nieces and nephews who are desperate to meet them, and it's hard to say no, but they don't necessarily understand at the moment that it's not possible for them to meet them yet. But the time will come and it will be wonderful when it does.”

Follow the family’s journey on “Triplets by the sea” on Instagram.

High praise for the staff in QA’s NICU

​While the babies are in the NICU nurses provide around the clock care, and Chris and Hannah want those staff to know how much their efforts are appreciated.

“The staff at QA were just the most caring, diligent loving people that you could possibly ask to meet. We had such a wonderful experience with them.”

Entry to QA’s NICU is strictly limited to named members of the immediate family, who are only buzzed in after they state who they are on video camera.

"The work that goes on in that unit, most people don't see it. Most people don't want to see it because you'd never want your baby to be in there, but because it all goes on behind closed doors, people don't know what happens in there.

"Having gone through that journey and thankfully having come out the other side, I only have positive thing to say about it, and the more the staff there are highlighted and the wonderful work they do is recognised, the better.”

Once the triplets were allowed to come home, Chris and Hannah had mixed emotions.

“There was a huge amount of relief to be leaving,” he recalls, “but also a huge amount of gratitude as well because although you know it's been a tough five weeks there are so many parents who unfortunately have to spend longer in the hospital with their babies. We are so blessed that it was only five weeks.

“As much as you're delighted to finally be leaving and getting your babies home to where they belong, a piece of you is feeling sad that you're departing a situation where you know other parents are in a more difficult place than you.”