California couple welcomes rare mixed triplets weighing 19 pounds total, nearly breaking world record

A Southern California couple is celebrating the arrival of a rare set of naturally conceived mixed triplets, a pregnancy medical teams described as highly uncommon.

Nylah Craft told ABC7 Los Angeles she discovered she was carrying triplets during an early appointment. She initially believed she saw two sacs on the ultrasound. Her doctor then told her there were three. “I was like, oh my gosh, triplets,” she said.

Craft said multiples run in her family. Her mother is a twin, and relatives previously welcomed triplets — all boys. Craft noted the pattern continued with her own trio.

Triplets Born on Their Father’s Birthday

The couple welcomed three boys — Elio, Elias and Enzo — on Aug. 18, a date made even sweeter because the triplets were born on Bernal’s birthday. The newborns were conceived naturally and delivered at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center.

Bernal said he “freaked out” when he learned they were expecting three, noting the jump from two children to five felt overwhelming.

The boys arrived at exactly 36 weeks, weighing a combined 19.3 pounds, placing them just shy of the Guinness world record for the heaviest living triplets at birth.

Craft said the weight explained the intense physical strain she felt late in pregnancy. “Knowing it was 19 pounds of baby… now it makes sense why I was in so much pain,” she said.

Doctors Call the Pregnancy Exceptionally Rare

Medical staff said the birth required an expanded team, including multiple NICU nurses and physicians.

Kaiser Permanente specialists described the pregnancy as a “mixed triplet” set — two identical babies and one fraternal — a combination rarely seen in spontaneous pregnancies.

Triplets develop, the Cleveland Clinic notes, when three eggs are fertilized or when one fertilized egg divides into three separate embryos.

A Meaningful Milestone for the Family

The triplets join older siblings Naya and Maceo, expanding the family from four to seven overnight.

Craft previously survived NMDA receptor encephalitis, a condition that once left her unable to speak, eat or walk independently, making the healthy arrival of her sons especially significant.

The family is now raising funds through a verified GoFundMe for everyday expenses and a vehicle large enough to safely transport all five children under age five.