But everyone knew there was a very good reason why they could not be there and that they would be watching at home if that was possible.

Daniel and Samantha Rowan and Mrs Rowan’s parents Ross and Debbie Kennedy were busy with the safe arrival home on the weekend of three boys who could potentially be future players for the Hawks.

They say good things come in threes but bouncing baby triplets were a big surprise for the basketball loving family from Balgownie.

Wyatt, Micah and Quinn Rowan were born at Royal North Shore Hospital (public) just before Christmas and were a present like no other for their two-year-old sister Elsie.

Just a few years ago Mrs Rowan thought she may never be able to have children.

But she has achieved something that may be a first.

Her doctor was not aware of any other triplets being born to the same treatment.

The Rowans knew there was the chance of a multiple birth. But they were not expecting triplets.

The babies were also the first transferred patients back to the new special care nursery at Wollongong Private Hospital two weeks ago and definitely the first set of triplets.

The family found out they were having three babies when Mrs Rowan was at seven weeks.

She was experiencing severe morning sickness and thought she might be having twins.

“I had a pituitary tumour when I was 18,” she said.

“I just don’t produce any of the right hormones. When we had Elsie we weren’t sure how it was going to go. I went to the doctor and found out all I needed was the injections to give me the right hormones. So we didn’t have to go for IVF.”

Mrs Rowan ended up having ovulation induction which resulted in the arrival Elsie.

But having triplets the second time around was a bit of a shock.

“I think we got out moneys worth,” she said.

Mr Rowan said his wife suspected something was different when she went for the ultrasound because she had been so sick.

“We ended up with a trifecta,” he said.

“We were at South Coast Ultrasound and it was pretty clear straight away that it looked like there might be two...but seconds later we could see a third. We were astounded.”

Nervous laughter on the way home was how they described their reaction.

Plans began to be put in place for home renovations to accommodate the rapidly expanding family.

That is still a work in progress so the Rowans are temporarily staying at Woonona with Mr and Mrs Kennedy.

Elsie thinks all her Christmases have come at once.

But it is only now that she is beginning to understand what it all means because until recently she had not been able to kiss or hug her brothers. For the first eight weeks they were in incubators.

“She calls them all Micah,” Mrs Rowan said.

Before they babies were born the family was aware that one of the babies was a little behind the other two. There was some concern when he was born but he continued to grow at the same rate. That meant all three came home a week at the same time a before what would normally be full term.

During the pregnancy the family took the journey one ultrasound at a time.

Now they are still taking things one week at a time and one step at a time.

In hospital one nurse on each shift was looking after all three.

That means they all have slightly different eating and sleeping patterns.

The first task now they are at home is to try and get them all into the same pattern.

Otherwise there may not be much time for mum to sleep.

The boys are not identical and Mrs Rowan can already tell them apart.

But it is taking other members of the family a little longer.

“I can’t yet,” Mr Kennedy said.

Quinn and Wyatt were 1.1kg when they were born and Micah was 1.3kg.

But now 10 weeks later Quinn and Micah are 3kgs and Wyatt is 2.6.

All three are now sucking well and are expected to do their most rapid growing in the next couple of months.

Mrs Rowan said she could already see different personalities.

“Micah is the cuddly one,” she said.

“Wyatt is the alert one who is always stickybeaking around. And Quinn just goes with the flow and fits in. All the nurses knew them by that at the end.”

The three boys briefly shared the same nursery as Melissa Gorgievski who had the first twins born in the new Wollongong Private Hospital.

The Rowan and Kennedy families are heavily into basketball.

Mr Kennedy was one of the original players for the Hawks before the NBL championship started several decades ago.

Mr Rowan said he had no idea how tall the boys would end up being or if they would be interested in playing.

He is the managing director of globally expanding digital business Internetrix, which has 20 employees, and wanted to thank everyone who has helped the family get to this point.

Mrs Rowan is the marketing director for CTPM which is a Wollongong based business run by her parents.

It has many clients overseas.

She said she knows her two bosses will be very understanding of how busy she is going to be for the foreseeable future.

“The business community in the Illawarra has been fascinated about us having triplets and very supportive,” Mr Rowan said.

“And my co-directors and staff have been amazing. The pregnancy was high-risk so there were more appointments than a normal pregnancy. So they have been supportive through the seven month pregnancy and the two months while they have been in hospital.”

Mr Rowan expects the next two months to be fairly busy as well while the family makes the transition to their own home.

“I would just like to acknowledge our friends and family in Balgownie and everyone at Bulli Anglican Church,’’ he said.

Mr Rowan grew up in the Southern Highlands and his parents Thelma and Haldane Rowan presently live in New Zealand but have also been very helpful. They now have six grand children.

Mr and Mrs Kennedy have four.

The Rowans also wanted to thank all members of the medical community who helped them through the pregnancy, emergency, delivery and development phases.

“It gave us a whole new kind of exposure to the public and private health system and we have been looked after really well by all the medical professionals,” Mr Rowan said.

“Our experience over the last nine months...has been awesome.”

Mr Rowan said now they were all at home at the Kennedy’s house in Woonona they felt very fortunate and ready for what is likely to be a busy few months ahead.

He said they had three healthy boys and a very supportive family and were ready to keep taking things one step at a time.

“It is pretty special,” he said.