Mom Called for Jury Duty Has No Babysitter — So She Shows Up with 1-Year-Old Triplets in Tow (Exclusive)

Torrey Scow didn't want to face the $1000 fine for skipping jury duty, so she packed up her four kids for what ended up being an adventure

Torrey Scow is used to getting looks as she goes about her daily life with four kids — triplets Lexi, Zoey and Lincoln, 18 months, and daughter Emory, 5 — but when she shared her experience at jury duty, others really took notice.

In June, the mom of four was called to jury duty and thought a lack of child care would allow her to reschedule.

"I even sent them a picture because I wanted them to know how hard it is for me to find a babysitter, because the only person I have that can handle all four kids is either myself or my husband, or my mom," Torrey tells PEOPLE of the incident.

"It'd be easier if they were older toddlers, but they're still babies who need bottles and changing at different times. But they ended up sending me a random day around three days out from the day I got it."

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With husband Kory at work and her only babysitter out of town, Torrey submitted to having to do it on her own.

"I told my husband, 'Don't worry about it. I bet if I just take them, they'll probably see me and send me right home. It'll be fine.' "

The day of jury duty, Torrey recalls she "didn't even put shoes on them because I just thought, 'We're not going to be there long.' "

To her surprise, Torrey was kept there. "I walked into this room and it's just dead silent. There are all these adults there by themselves and one other mom with twins, but they were [older] and well-behaved."

Torrey relied on her arsenal of snacks to try to keep the toddlers busy.

"I think they ate more snacks than they ever had in their lives at that point because it was the only thing that was keeping them quiet," she says.

After a while, the snacks stopped working as the antsy little ones wanted to roam.

"They start screaming, but they're in this stage where they scream at the top of their lungs. It's not possible to get one baby quiet, let alone three. And my older daughter is so good, just sitting there and trying to help as they throw their bottles on the floor and everyone's looking at us."

When Emory needed a bathroom break, Torrey took the kids to stroll around in the hall until they were taken in to see the judge. Thinking again that she'd soon be dismissed, Torrey was held longer.

"I thought for sure the judge would see me and excuse me, but he started going through so many questions. And I couldn't even hear them because my babies are so loud and other people in the room are asking him to repeat questions."

As the judge spoke, Torrey was running relay after the triplets as they wandered around the room until one of the officers took her to a closed-off hall space just outside, where they could roam as she tried to listen.

"He was so nice and found them this box of toys, stuffed animals and whatnot, and brought them in for them to play with. And finally, once they were getting entertained and settled, the judge said he was going to release who he didn't need and let me and one other person go home."

While she was relieved, the mom of four was baffled that she was kept there for two and a half hours.

"Usually it's me and my husband when we go out with all the kids, but this time it was just me and I was physically and emotionally exhausted when it was all done. It was me by myself and it's dead silent and all eyes are on me. I was so close to crying by the end and then they finally let us go."

Admitting she's been met with her fair share of "very nice" people and those who "stare," Torrey says that as a mom of multiples, she's used to being stopped. The most common comment she hears? "I don't know how you do it."

"And it's really the third [baby] that makes it feel hard, because you only have two arms and anytime I'm taking them anywhere, I have to carry two and go back for one. We have to have everything super baby-proofed."

Still, she wouldn't have it any other way. After being told she couldn't carry due to the effects of an autoimmune disease medication, Torrey and Kory welcomed Emory via surrogate — her sister-in-law. A change in medications allowed her to carry the triplets on her own, though she was told it was unlikely she'd end up with multiples at all.

"So we did have one set of embryos that were two embryos that were frozen together. And if you have two that are frozen together, they suggest you keep them that way," she explains.

"If you're trying to separate them and it doesn't work, then you just have to discard both, so you do have a slightly higher chance if you put in two of getting one to stick. And that was our plan, to hopefully get one out of it."

Choosing to go without IVF drugs this time around, when she got her bloodwork done, the results made the couple feel confident they'd have twins.

"We go in for the ultrasound, the very first ultrasound, and the tech goes to the embryos and we instantly see they both stuck," she recalls, saying her husband was definitely "stressed" by the news.

"I joked, 'At least it's not triplets' and we all laugh, including the doctor, and as she's measuring both embryos she moves to the side and stops. And she looks up at me and says, 'Oh no.' "

Thinking she'd lost one of the babies, instead the tech showed her that one of the embryos had split.

"You are having triplets," the couple heard.

"I wish I had a camera because it was so dramatic. I luckily was laying down or else I probably would have passed out, but I tried to keep my cool in the room and I was just asking questions while I hear Kory taking deep breaths and the nurse telling him it's going to be okay."

Once they left, Torrey cried as she confronted the fears of what was to come.

"I wanted a kid so bad, but when you find out it's three and there's only two of us, it's like, 'How are we supposed to do it?' Plus, it was my first pregnancy ever and I have this medical condition and now this pregnancy is high risk. I bawled my eyes out."

The two braved 32 weeks of pregnancy with the triplets, which included pre-eclampsia that led to her induction. And while the ordeal was scary, the mom of four says, "It is all so worth it."

"You're going to have rough moments, but if you even have one child or no children, you have rough moments. But the good times, you get time three, and it is the absolute best."

"Try to put away all those worries and be positive. I think that's the biggest thing is just stay positive. It all works out," she shares as a word of advice to other multiple moms and dads.

"It can be so stressful but it's so worth it for three times the laughs, three times the smiles, three times the cuddles."

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