13 mo old triplets, just found out I'm pregnant! OMG!

[Barefoot Farmer]

After 5 years of infertility, we were blessed with triplets (have an older DD).  Nursing 2 out of 3, AF has been sporadic, felt incredibly dizzy since Thanksgiving, had a hard time nailing down what was the issue.  Just found out I'm 8 weeks pregnant!  OMG!  How is this going to work?  Please talk me off my ledge.  

[bluebackpacks]

Congratulations on the new little one!  You must be so stressed right now!  I hope you have friends and family who can step up and lend you a hand during the pregnancy (and postpartum).  

Sending you good wishes and calming vibes...   

[hergrace]

Oh, mama. Wow. Hugs.

You're going to get through.  It's going to have some tough bits, but you'll get through.  

[purpleheather79]

I think I said the same thing when I found out I was having a second set of twins.  LOL  Hang in there!  You can do it.  I nursed my older twins through my entire second twin pregnancy and then nursed all 4 together for nearly 2 years.  You would be surprised by the crazy things your body can do sometimes!  :)

[~bookcase~]

congratulations mama

[dakotablue]

Wow congratulations!!!!

Hoping this is a singleton

I had IF before DS and this pregnancy was a "there's no way it'll happen on its own whats the point in trying to avoid" We are thrilled my body jumped in to high gear, though Dh has joked that if we have triplets he's done (I worked with a family who had triplets they are so much FUN and work)

You can do this mama!

[SashaBreeze]

First, congratulations!

We recently had a somewhat similar scare.  I was showing all the signs of pregnancy and so started panicking that I was, but turned out I was not.  But while I waited for dh to come home with the pregnancy test I came up with a plan of action "just in case".

First I decided I would have to learn not to care.  My toddler breaks all the dishes while I am in the bathroom? So what, that is why I bought really cheap ones that we could replace easily.  One of the kids decided they only want to eat jellybeans? Cool, at least they are eating.  I determined I would box up anything difficult to clean or that I would be upset about breaking and put them in storage for the next few years.  I knew that was the only way I would be able to survive the next few years without driving myself and everyone around me insane.

We also homeschool so I had also decided if I was pregnant I was sending all of the kids to school.

I also convinced myself that if I was pregnant that I would be expecting twins or higher multiples so that way if I ended up with multiples again I would already be ready for it and if it turned out I was expecting a singleton than I could actually be relieved that I was "only" having one.

Hope some of the things that ran rampant in my mind while waiting for the one or two lines will help you in your very real situation.  In a few years they will be older and it will be awesome!  You can do this.  Just think in a few years this will just be an amazing story you tell your friends. "4 under 5? Shoot that was nothing I had 4 under 3!" insert smug smile.

[crazyms]

Wow!!! You'll get through this. Try to get help if you can and just start plotting ways to lessen the stress on yourself. Declutter and organize the house to make it more managable. Start doing OAMC so that you can rest more often. It'll be okay! Congratulations. 

[Barefoot Farmer]

Thank you all for your messages of support and encouragement.  I'm still in shock and still wondering how is going to work. . . . for about 4 months I will have 4 under 2 years old!!!  That's craziness.  Purpleheather, thank you for sharing about nursing both sets of twins for 2 years.  Question: did you nightwean your first set before the second set showed up?  Nights is what I am most worried about. . . right now DD2 and DS2 wake up several times a night and nurse back to sleep.  Since discovering I'm pregnant, DH has done an amazing job of taking 1 of them on/off so that I am only nursing one at a time (tandeming is incredibly overwhelming for me sensory-wise w/ the pregnancy).  Any thoughts are how to survive the nights?

[purpleheather79]

I did nightwean my second set while I was still pregnant.  I should say that they were mostly nightweaned.  LOL  We had a few setbacks along the way.  I started to try weaning at night as soon as I found out that I was having twins again and not a singleton.  It took a few weeks of my DH going in and soothing the girls back to sleep.  They had been cosleeping and I had to move them into their own room to get them to stop nursing.  If they stayed in my bed they would nurse all night long.  It was a little rough for all of us just due to lack of sleep, but the transition was as gentle as possible.  I could not handle tandem nursing when I was pregnant either.  It was excruciatingly painful, especially toward the end of my pregnancy.  But of course everyone started nursing in tandem again when the babies arrived.  It was the only way to save time.  I'd nurse the babies first and then let the twin girls finish up whatever was left.  So much of that time is sort of a blurry memory right now, but I can promise you that if I survived, you will too.  And you will have one hell of a story to tell.  :)

[SunshineH]

Congratulations. May you find all the support and help you need when you need it. I had a couple of thoughts that may help - not now maybe, but for later. When your baby is born your triplets will be about the age I felt my twins get easier. (And I did night wean them, which I believe helped me a ton.) It also seems my twins do a lot more earlier than any of my singletons - simply because I can't always do it for them. Things like finding their boots, going out to the car with everyone else, bringing their twin a cup of water when I give them one, and playing together. I can tell them now to go downstairs to play with the other and they do! and they enjoy it. Take care.

[DeerMother]

BarefootFarmer, I'm getting sentimental over here b/c I can't believe your babies are 13 months already! (I'm formally esaesa)

Let's see. . . the trips will be almost two when baby is born? This was about the age that my two started keeping themselves entertained for long periods of time. Hopefully, this will be the case for you too.

[f&p'smama]

Wow mama!  Congratulations on your new pregnancy!  You would probably have to do this anyway with triplets, but my best advice is to childproof every inch of your home.  For a while I even had to take the chairs out of the dining room because my twins would climb on the table and swing the hanging lamp over the table.  We still don't have a coffee table and my twins are 5 and my youngest is 3.  If you try to remove every foreseeable hazard, you can have the toddlers out of your sight with a little more peace of mind while you're dealing with a newborn's needs.  IIRC, one of your triplets has Down syndrome?  Maybe s/he'd qualify for some help from an assistant so you could have an extra set of hand for him/her anyway.  

I am amazed by you!  You're amazing for nursing as much as you are!  I could not tolerate tandem nursing while pregnant with my singleton.  I got severe agitation and had to wean entirely during my pregnancy.