A New Brunswick woman has given birth to identical triplets, which is extremely rare.

Some experts place the odds as high as one in 200 million.

Marie-Josee Mallet, 29, had three baby girls by caesarean section at the Moncton Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Thalia, Lea and Raven weighed two pounds three ounces, two pounds five ounces and two pounds 13 ounces.

They are all in the neonatal intensive care unit, but are doing well and breathing on their own, Mallet said Friday.

"We're doing great," she said. "My husband and I, we kind of split our time, and during the weekend we can go to see them" at the hospital.

"And … when my husband is going to work, I'm going to be doing my eight-hour shifts here," she said with a laugh.

Mallet said she didn't take any fertility drugs, so she and her husband, Daniel Thibault, were shocked to find out they were having three babies.

"We were thrilled because we thought we were doing a miscarriage because I was having a lot of pain in my belly, but when we found out we were having three, we were more than happy."

It's going to mean some big changes, though. Thibault, who works at the same call centre as Mallet, got a second part-time job to help pay the bills. And they recently bought a new house in Memramcook for their instant five-person family.

Mallet said they're looking forward to bringing their babies home and hope that by then they'll be able to tell them apart.