Triplets expected in family who lost its children in car crash

Triplets are expected by a Southern California couple whose three children died in a car crash.

Photo: Triplets expected in family who lost its children in car crash

Lori Coble is seven weeks pregnant with two girls and a boy, who are expected in May. The 30-year-old mother had the three embryos implanted following in vitro fertilization.

"We had a one-in-10 chance of them sticking and they all three did," Chris Coble, 36, told the Orange County Register.

"It's kind of a two-sided coin," he said. "We feel amazed that it's happening but at the same time we're still mourning Kyle, Emma and Katie. Nothing will ever replace them. We feel joy for what's happening but we're crying and missing the kids."

"Those kids were our whole lives," he told KCBS-TV on Wednesday.

Kyle, 5; Emma, 4; and 2-year-old Katie were killed May 4 when a tractor-trailer rig slammed into the back of the family minivan on the freeway. The minivan was stopped in the slow lane of traffic. The trucker was traveling an estimated 70 mph (112 kilometer). Lori Coble, who was driving, and her mother were injured.

The truck driver, Jorge Miguel Romero, 37, has pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor counts of vehicular manslaughter. He could face up to three years in prison if convicted.

The death of the children prompted an outpouring of sympathy for the Cobles. People from around the world sent e-mails to the family, and more than 100,000 pink and blue ribbons were wrapped around trees and light poles in Orange County.