Nia and Robert Tolbert were the perfect little family when they had their first bundle of joy in 2011 – Shai, their son. Little did they know that a series of staggering surprises would soon disrupt their nice, quiet, and neat life. In just a few years, the Tolbert’s were already in their second and third pregnancies, with each posing new surprises and new challenges. Perhaps, the most hilarious of all reactions was Robert Tolbert’s fainting on receiving the shocking details of their third pregnancy.

Nia and Robert met back in 2007 through mutual friends and fell in love just like any other normal couple. They started dating and eventually became devoted to each other. Four years later, the couple received some fascinating news – they were pregnant with their first child. In 2011, these new parents held their baby boy in their loving arms.

Even though they were already living happily together with their baby boy, Nia, and Robert to make it official in 2014, their main objective was celebrating their undying love for each other surrounded by friends and loved ones. And indeed, their love was growing since Nia was pregnant with their second child.

Months passed by, and it was time to know whether Shai would have a little brother or sister. Buzzing with excitement, Nia went for the ultrasound to learn the gender of the family’s newest member. However, the sonogram showed different results from what she was expecting.

One year into their official marriage, the couple welcomed two handsome identical twins – Riley and Alexander. Bringing up Shai was challenging enough; what now with twins thrown into the equation? Nonetheless, the couple worked in harmony to make their marriage and parenthood work in the long run.

In 2017, Nia discovered that a new life was growing in her womb for the third time, but of course, it wasn’t planned. Nia kept hope alive and saw it as God’s plan for their family, and Tolbert hopped on the bandwagon, although it wasn’t easy for either of them. They shared the good news with their young family, and everyone did what they had to do to prepare for the arrival of the sixth member of the family.

From the beginning of this third pregnancy, Nia knew that something was out of the norm. After all, she had already been through two pregnancies before and knew what to expect. The difference showed glaringly in both her emotional and physical states. This mother of three noticed that she was more emotional than in her previous pregnancies. Also, she was growing bigger at an alarming rate when compared to prior pregnancies. While she did everything normally as directed by the doctor, Nia couldn’t stop worrying that something might be wrong.

Nia was understandably uneasy and desperate during her first sonogram for the third pregnancy. She had no idea what kind of news she would receive, which made her edgy. Little did she know that something extraordinary was happening inside and that it would change her family’s life for the best. When talking to reporters, Nia said that they had always joked about having a big family, but they didn’t expect more children after the twins.

The sonogram confirmed that, indeed, Nia was having twins. She did not doubt that they could handle the situation, given that they had been in a similar situation before. Albeit surprised, the young mother took the news in stride and excused herself to go to the bathroom. On coming back, the technician requested that they recheck just to be specific, and Nia agreed. The technician did a thorough job the second time and discovered something that he’d missed. Nia was not only expecting more than one child but triplets.

Nia’s doctor, Dr. Rami Tabbarah, who also happened to deliver her previous pregnancy, said that giving birth in the sequence that his patient had was rare. He said that such cases had a probability of happening less than once in every 1000 births. According to doctors, people who are more likely to experience multiple births get pregnant through artificial means, while breastfeeding, or are taller than usual.

Nia wasn’t sure how to break the news to her husband, and the father would be six children. Then came the trip to Tampa, Florida, with her girlfriends – it presented the perfect opportunity. And a surprise gift which he would discover after she was gone.

Robert narrated to reporters how he opened the package and came face to face with a very long sonogram, three onesies, and his wife’s short note. When he realized what it was all about, HE FAINTED.

When the news finally sank in, Robert shared with reporters that he had deep fears over how everything would work out. He didn’t know how everyone would adjust to the addition of three newborns into the family since they had only been expecting one. Hilariously though, he admitted that he had been expecting Fitbit in the gift box given he had hinted about wanting one for some time.

For their third pregnancy, Nia and Robert decided against discovering the gender of their babies at some closed room in a hospital. They were going to throw a gender reveal party with their other children, loved ones, and friends present.

One after the other, the balloons popped, revealing pink confetti. There would be three girls born into the Tolbert family in a few months. The discovery created unexpected gender equality in the family.

Nia and Tolbert were happy about the newest challenge in their lives, but they also knew that raising girls was a whole unique experience as compared to boys. Robert was excited that he would have his entourage like their boys stuck to their mother like glue.

Nia was expected to give birth to her three girls on 9^th February 2018, but given their history, they should have expected the unexpected. The contractions began weeks before the due date, but Tolbert’s didn’t think much about them. As the contractions became more frequent, Nia decided to call her mom.

The doctor always sent Nia home from her previous pregnancies when she came to the hospital due to contractions before the due date. She didn’t expect anything less this third time, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Upon examination, the doctor surprised her even further by telling her that they would have the babies that day. And as if on cue, her water broke when her doctor arrived. The Tolbert’s then braced themselves for arduous labor. On January 30, 2018, the three healthy Tolbert princesses were born by cesarean section.

While Nia went into labor earlier than expected, her three girls made it out of the surgical room in excellent shape. The three weighed between 4 and 4.6 pounds.

When the couple was asked about their plans, they didn’t have any. Understandably, they don’t know how everything will turn out, so they decided to live each day at a time. According to Robert, when they got married, they had made plans and didn’t see themselves in the situation they were currently in then.

While the couple had planned on making the normal adjustments before the arrival of their newborns, they now hard thrice the amount of work to do. They even came up with a few child-care logistics to allow the family’s smooth running even after delivery. Nia would look after the children while Robert was at work during the day, while Robert would take over in the evening as she worked on her Yoga business.

Nia and Robert were honest enough and revealed that they couldn’t have done it on their own. They are grateful for the support of friends, family, and well-wishers around the world. Bringing up a child takes a village, but the Tolbert’s now have six, and they’ve handled it gracefully. Nia quelled all fears when she said they knew it wouldn’t be easy, especially for the first few years, but she was convinced that they would eventually make it.

Nia has come to be popularly recognized as the “1-2-3 mom”, which is an allusion to the babies she had during her pregnancies. First pregnancy – one child, second pregnancy – twins, and the third pregnancy – triplets.

Even with six kids who were less than six years turning their worlds upside down, Nia and Tolbert embraced the pandemonium and banked on the good that came from it all. From their infancy, the Tolbert children continue to take the world by storm, from starring in movies such as Harriet to their content being watched by thousands on social media.

With her extraordinary story out in the open, many people couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if Nia was to get pregnant a fourth time. Would the fourth pregnancy’s outcome be quadruplets? With six children already filling their worlds, it’s hard envisioning additional family members for the Tolbert’s.

Given all the publicity they had received, Nia and Robert, decided to create a brand name, “Totally Tolbert,” for their family of 8. Nia Tolbert continues to share her little army’s life with the world through her Facebook and Instagram accounts.