ORANGE : Triplets to Change Family’s Life in 1991

For Edward Miranda, 1991 began with more than a triple whammy.

Miranda’s wife, Tina, 29, gave birth to triplets on New Year’s Day at UCI Medical Center in Orange, bringing their children to eight. Although he is elated, Miranda, 31, has been unable to find a job since October. And this month his in-laws, who have been helping the family for eight years, will be gone.

The three additions, Joshua William, Jacob Christian and Jeremy Nathan, were born weighing between 5 and 6 pounds. The trio are in good condition and healthy enough to go home within the next couple of weeks, said Fran Tardiff, a hospital spokeswoman.

The family lives in a two-bedroom apartment in San Bernardino. Three months ago, Edward Miranda was laid off from his job as a warehouseman at an Anaheim electronics firm, his father-in-law, Bill Rufner, said.

Now Rufner and his wife Carol, who have helped the Mirandas by buying diapers and food, and baby-sitting, are moving to Minneapolis.

Rufner, a recruiter with the U.S. Army, has been transferred. He will leave Sunday; his wife will follow in a few weeks.

“I don’t know what she would have done without us,” Rufner said. “We helped her (Tina Miranda) get along with the five she’s already got, and now we’re leaving.”

Rufner said a La Brea woman, a stranger, dropped off a dozen cans of baby food and some diapers at the Rufner home, saying that she is the mother of three whose husband was unemployed for a time.

In addition, a local radio station donated a crib and a twin bed, Rufner said.

Any donations to the family can be made through Beth Siegel at UCI Medical Center, at (714) 634-5644 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.