an indiana couple who shocked doctors by naturally conceiving identical triplets welcomed their three daughters into the world on thursday night the event was one in a million, medical professionals said, and ashley and matt alexander, of greenfield, outside indianapolis, said they knew how they lucky they are sophia mae and alexis kae weighed in at more than 4 pounds, while ella shae weighs 5 pounds, according to 6 abc, and were born at 36 weeks 'it's just an awesome blessing for god to entrust us with three more little blessings all at once,' ashley told the indiana network scroll down for video  they're here!: indiana nurse ashley alexander and her husband matt welcomed their incredibly rare identical triplets on thursday night, calling the girls sophia mae, alexis kae and ella shae  but now comes the part of being able to tell each of them apart while it will be easier as the girls grow up and develop their own characteristics and personalities, as babies it will be difficult but mrs alexander thinks she has the answer   nail polish she intends to keep track of the girls by painting each of their nails a different color   purple, pink or light blue the couple were looking at an ultrasound when the technician told them they were expecting triplets mr alexander asked whether the hospital worker was joking when he asked the technician to check'sir, we do not joke about this,' the technician said before telling mr and mrs alexander about the triplets, the greenfield reporter reported ashley alexander (left) and hubsand matt of greenfield, indiana, were surprised weeks ago when they learned they were expecting three new additions to their family during a routine sonogram  'is this a joke?': mr alexander asked the technician to double check when she told the couple they were expecting triplets  while triplets have become more common with the rise of methods such as in vitro fertilization, having an identical trio naturally, where one egg is fertilized and splits into three separate embyros, is rare one in a million is commonly reported as the odds of having natural identical triplets, though estimates range from one in 60,000 to one in 200million there were in 4,600 triplets out of nearly 4 million us births in 2012 according to date from the centers for disease control however there is no record of how many were identical or how many births involved fertility treatments the mother, who works as a part time nurse, had hoped to wait until mid february to give birth, with multiples often born early ashley's rapidly growing belly lead her to believe that there would be more than one child, though she and husband matt did not expect triplets she is seen here at her baby shower  friends and family held a baby shower in january for the happy parents, who said that the triplets are a blessing the couple will get help raising the girls from nearby relatives, and are buying in bulk for their bulging brood 'thank goodness for sam's club and walmart,' mrs alexander, who estimates that the babies will go through 7,000 diapers in their first year, told rtv6 mr alexander works as a supervisor at a church building company, and the couple hope to be able to continue working while splitting time caring for the sophia, alexis and ella along with their two year old son, stefan though friends have warned them about the difficulties ahead, the couple said they don't view the children as an inconvenience, but as something that 'makes marriage a family' the alexanders expect their new children in the coming weeks and may try to keep track of their girls by giving them different nail polish colors  after first finding out about the triplets in september, mrs alexander has been preparing to give birth for the past several months she first started having contractions at work in december and still experiences them frequently a rapidly growing belly first made her suspect that there was more than one child even before she knew  'just last night, i felt a kick on my left and a hit on my right; then, i’ll have one push here, one push there, and i’ll have one pounce on my bladder,' she said the babies will be born through caesarean section, as the risks of naturally birthing the triplets are too high the sisters will likely stay in the neonatal intensive care unit for several weeks however doctors have said that sophia, alexis and ella appear to be developing healthily
indiana ashley matt alexander greenfield sophia mae alexis kae ella shae
indiana couple ashley and matt alexander welcome their identical triplets in greenfield on thursday night . ashley was 36 weeks along . they named the girls sophia mae, alexis kae and ella shae . odds of having identical triplets range up to one in 200 million . ashley plans to keep track of triplets by giving them different nail polish 