Expecting triplets - here to say hello!

[Emaya]

Hi all!

I found out in my routine 18 week ultrasound (I wasn't going to have one because I'm a little suspicious...but this pregnancy felt so different than the last so I wanted to take a peek) that I'm pregnant with triplets. I'm 20 weeks now and feeling good (though still a little twighlight-zoney). We tried forever (well, a year and a half) to get pregnant with #2 (dd was a happy oops pregnancy) with unexplained secondary infertility, and I got my suprise bfp in May. I didn't do anything special, except perhaps have fraternal twins on my side of the family, and eat some royal bee jelly around ovulation. When it rains, it pours. We are seeing the humor in it -- we tried SO hard to make a baby, we made three!

Nothing really to ask or add here, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself because I'm working my way through this multiples forum page by page and gleening all of your knowledge on strollers, carseats, twin relationships, bedtime routines, breast feeding, cloth diapering, etc. 

Anyone else around pregnant with triplets?

[Gena 22]

Wow, that is exciting, congrats, congrats, congrats, and welcome!  Best wishes for a continued smooth pregnancy!

[Gena 22]

PS - Don't know much about triplets as I'm just a twin mom, but I loved my twin table, and would highly recommend the triplet model.  Well worth the money!

http://www.justmultiples.com/triplet-table.html

[j.e.n]

welcome, welcome! and congratulations times three!

i'm also a twin mama but wanted to drop a note to say HELLO!

wishing you a wonderful pregnancy!! sending you smiles  and happiness .

[hergrace]

Congratulations! Welcome to the wild ride that is parenting triplets.

My triplets are 4. I'm not on here much, but I try to look out for questions specifically about triplets, so I'll try to be helpful if you have questions.

I, too, had secondary infertility followed by spontaneous triplets. DS1 was almost 4 when the trips were born and he has been amazing as a big brother.

The only book I could find about becoming a big sib to triplets is Angus and the Triplets.

http://www.amazon.com/Angus-Triplets-Lesa-Rhoton/dp/1589398521/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315319788&sr=8-1

[Emaya]

Thank you j.e.n. and Gena22!

And Kate, thank you for the book tip! It sounds like you would be a great source for triplets+one older child info as your family looks similar to how mine will if all goes as we hope. I'm in week 21 one now, and just trying to eat, sleep, eat, eat, eat, sleep, and not stress out too much about work. I'll probably only work for a couple more weeks as I've suddenly become quite heavy and easily winded. I'm a jr. high teacher, so I like to be on my feet and full of energy to do my job well...

Kate, any advice about pregnancy? I'm just longing to be on the other side of 28,29, 30 weeks now.

Thank you! 

[Smurfette2]

I'm expecting trips in Feb 2012! Welcome! :) I'm only 18w but very excited and anxious to get past 25 weeks! This is my 2nd set of spontaneous multiples. I have 6 month old Di/Di girls.

[hergrace]

My advice about pregnancy is mostly to be prepared for things to change. Pay attention to your body - things can change fast. I went from up and about to needing to rest most of the day quite suddenly when it happens. I made changes in child care for my eldest as soon as I knew it was triplets because I didn't want to increase his time in day care at the last minute. Call in all help you have available - now and for the first 6-9 months. The more help you have, the more AP your parenting can be.

Enjoy your alone time with your eldest now. The next few years are going to be one huge transition after another for her.

If something makes you worry, ask your care provider sooner rather than later. My provider wanted me to assume that anything that could possibly be preterm labour was preterm labour until I had been into labour and delivery and had it checked out.  I only had to go once and it wasn't labour, but the sensations I was having could have been labour. Example: assume that contractions are contractions not Braxton-Hicks.

I got my best advice on breastfeeding/pumping for multiples on the apmultiples Yahoo! group. Be prepared to pump for 20 minutes every two hours after they are born if you don't carry them long enough for them to breastfeed at birth. The nurses at the hospital didn't understand why the lactation consultant told me to pump that often, but then they were shocked by how much milk my babies actually got. Get the best pump you can afford.

[Emaya]

Thank you for the welcome, Smurfette! It's nice to have a fellow pregnant triplet mom around to compare note with :)

Hergrace, thank you SO much for your words. I've been having tiny little period-like cramps at work, and I'm taking them seriously enough to be put on sick leave by my doctor. I plan on spending as long as possible just relaxing and eating enormous amounts for the next weeks and hopefully months.

We have a whole team of help (mom-in-law, dad-in-law, sisters-in-law, friends, plus all the help we'll get from the wonderful Swedish REAL family values system -- a personal assistant regularly for the first few months + financial support) that we've mobilized and organized for the first 6 months. I'm American, so we'll be relying mostly on dh's family (but I adore them). My dad will come and live with us for a few months next summer, so when everyone else is getting tired of us, we'll have some fresh hands :) 

I talked to a friend who had very premature twins (26 weeks) at the same hospital where I will be. She got to live basically in the same room as the kids, and there was always dim lighting around the babies -- not that bright hospital lighting. The hospital was one of the first in the world to initiate the kangaroo method (borrowed from Peruvian mothers, aparently, who wear preterm babies on their upper chests all the time as their bodies serve as natural, temperature-regulating incubators) so that she and her husband spent hours and hours each day wearing the microbabies wrapped on their chests. She said she felt she was constantly being asked to keep pumping breast milk to get her supply up and so they could be exclusively fed mother's milk. The hospital also has a milk bank for its premature babies that other, overflowing mothers donate to so that preemies whose mothers can't pump can have human milk too. So I'm feeling a little better about the prospects of having premature babies after talking to her. 

Yesterday, I went in to talk to the specialist doctor who will be following my pregnancy and possibly birth. She was really cool. She was just downright excited about triplets because it had been a couple years since the last litter. She said that triplets are born by cesarean. I said I was totally ok with that and would follow the specialist recommendation, but because my first birth was so blissful, I asked her about the possibilities of having a natural birth. Instead of giving me a lecture about safety and putting the babies first as I had expected, she was so positive and said that if there was good positioning and old enough/healthy enough babes, then she didn't see any reason why I shouldn't be supported in my desire for a vaginal birth. She said that she'd check with her colleagues around the country and see who had the experience to come and accompany. She said that she'd love to be there for a natural triplet birth too. It all felt very positive and supportive, and I hope for this kind of continued care.

Dr. Luke's renowned book (expecting twins, triplets, etc.) arrived in the mail yesterday and I prompty read half of it. Lucky thing I've been following my own urges and eating like 6 or 7 full meals a day with tons of complex carbs, protein, healthy fats, veggies and more. My doc hasn't mentioned a thing to me about food or even taken my weight. I'm at 21 weeks now and have gone up 20 pounds, which is decent, but I'd like to gain more. I do have a hard time putting on weight though generally, so I'll just have to trust the fact that the enormous amount of fantastic and varied food I eat is good enough. I'll start mixing in even more yummy extra virgin olive oil into my food for good measure, though :)

Thank you again for your advice, and listening to my ramblings (I don't want to bore all my friends with every little detail of my pregnancy!).

[hergrace]

The hospital sounds fabulous! And I am jealous of the amount of help you have.  I had very little and spent a lot of money on mother's helpers.

I just remembered one other thing I wanted to mention.  My doctor was always optimistic, but watching to catch complications early - a balance I felt very comfortable with. The one medical intervention she suggested even though I had shown no complications to date was to give me the steroid shots to develop the babies' lungs at 30 weeks. Her reasoning was that she had seen women pregnant with triplets develop complications quickly after 30 weeks and she had been unable to give steroids to one patient in time and she was determined not to do that again. In retrospect, I am glad that was her procedure because I developed complications quite quickly after 30 weeks and didn't make it to 33 weeks. Hearing all three babies cry in the delivery room as they were rushed to the NICU team did my heart a world of good.

Good luck!

[j.e.n]

Ummmm... I just read the recent replies and I must tell you how AWESOME I think it is that you have such an INCREDIBLE support system and DYNAMIC care providers!!! :o) So, so, so cool that they have a milk bank for you to utilize. That's amazing. One thing that I loathed about our stay in the NICU was when my babies had to be given formula until I was pumping enough milk for all of their feedings. It made me cringe every time, but I knew they needed nourishment. I would have LOVED to use human milk!! Kangarooing was a big part of our regimen as well. I felt torn between two babies, so I can only imagine what three would be like - but it sounds as though your hospital will be sure to go above and beyond to make sure that you can do whatever is needed to get those babies to you! :o)

I really look forward to hearing about your adventure! Perhaps you can keep us informed of all the great progressive care you are getting over there!!

Sending you and your growing belly a huge hug and lots of vibes for health, rest and a peaceful pregnancy!!! AND even stronger ones for a perfect delivery too!!

[lesliesara63]

nak

3mth old GGG and 2 big sisters :) Babies were born at 32.6 (shared my birth story on this forum) and I also pumped every 2 hrs. Our Nicu recommended every 3 but i didn't think it was enough. All three are exclusively bf'ing now - it is lots of work but we're doing it. I'm also not on here much but feel free to message me any questions.

[j.e.n]

OMG... lesliesara63 you are INSPIRING!!! I hope your friends and family are lifting you up in praise! BF-ing three is incredible!!

[Emaya]

Thanks j.e.n. for your enthusiasm - I do feel lucky to live in Sweden! Especially after we had dinner with another triplet family (got their contact details from a mutual friend) last night and heard the low-down on what kind of support we can expect after coming home from the hospital. They got a free 24-hour a day assistant for the first 6 months!!! When they didn't feel like having her (or one of the other team members of assistants) around, they just cancelled a shift. They actually had a trained child-care provider in their living room, working the night shift, doing crosswords and drinking tea, at the ready for when it was feeding time. One of the parents would always help out too, but one of the parents could sleep through a shift. The way the Swedish government reasons, if you have three infants and an older child (they had a 4 year old), you need more than two adults to handle that and make sure the family functions and stays together and that the older child gets her needs met too. Makes sense to me. They said it was still crazy, but that's to be expected. After six months, they went down to assistance five shifts a week, and are now assistance free since the triplets turned 2 and a half years old. 

Wow lesliesara, you are amazing! I'm sure I will have many bf questions for you when the little ones come. I can imagine that you're not on MDC too much nowadays...How exciting to have a house full of girls!!! 

[lesliesara63]

I can't believe the government provides an assistant for 6 mths!! I have help from family & a nanny 4 days/wk, but we're exhausting my mom & sisters and ourselves. That would be amazing! I didn't follow all of Barbara Luke's diet plan, but did try to really increase my protein & water intake. I was admitted to the hospital at 28 wks b/c my cervix shortened from 3.9 cm down to 1cm. At that point I had gained 45lbs approx. Between then and when they were born I gained another 40lbs. 30 of it was in the last two weeks. I was so swollen from my toes up to my thighs that I could barely get out of bed to use the bathroom. I stayed really swollen for about 2 weeks and then it improved, but still took about 6-8 weeks to go away completely. My babies were all head down at one point. Asking to have a vaginal birth wasn't a popular choice but I thought it was worth trying. Just a few days before they were born Baby B turned breech. I just got lucky that there was a doctor on call who was comfortable with a breech delivery. Having triplets has been really, really hard - but my daughters are beautiful, healthy babies and its all worth it.

[Smurfette2]

Originally Posted by lesliesara63 

I can't believe the government provides an assistant for 6 mths!! I have help from family & a nanny 4 days/wk, but we're exhausting my mom & sisters and ourselves. That would be amazing! I didn't follow all of Barbara Luke's diet plan, but did try to really increase my protein & water intake. I was admitted to the hospital at 28 wks b/c my cervix shortened from 3.9 cm down to 1cm. At that point I had gained 45lbs approx. Between then and when they were born I gained another 40lbs. 30 of it was in the last two weeks. I was so swollen from my toes up to my thighs that I could barely get out of bed to use the bathroom. I stayed really swollen for about 2 weeks and then it improved, but still took about 6-8 weeks to go away completely. My babies were all head down at one point. Asking to have a vaginal birth wasn't a popular choice but I thought it was worth trying. Just a few days before they were born Baby B turned breech. I just got lucky that there was a doctor on call who was comfortable with a breech delivery. Having triplets has been really, really hard - but my daughters are beautiful, healthy babies and its all worth it.

I completely understand the swelling! I've gained about 25 lbs at this point, I have another 15 or so weeks and then I'm done! For good. I don't want to go inpatient so I hired a nutritionalist to help me with my diet. So far it's been beneficial. The trips are weighing in at 50% of all singletons which I'm really proud of. I drink a protein shake per day with 2 cups of ice cream. Oh man, that is my favorite part of the day!  I'm drinking 120 oz of water per day and peeing about 90% of that water out by the end of the day. Ugh. I'm not big on carbs right now but I try to eat bowls of cereal at snack time. I'm an eater so eating isn't my problem, it's staying hydrated. I'm supposed to be on bedrest but I have 6 month old twins to care for so not much can be helped there. I don't have any help right now. My housekeeper comes in and cleans 3x week and she'll help out with the twins if I'm tired. I hired some college students as baby sitters but they won't start until October. We bought another car, Chevy Traverse that seats 8 and fits three carseats side-by-side in the 2nd row and I bought one more crib. We have the two Britax B-Ready strollers that I love but I guess I'll carry one baby for a while. I don't know how else to prepare. We buy 2 boxes of diapers every time we go to the market and I plan on nursing all 3 babies so I've started increasing my milk production by pumping every 90 minutes. The yield isn't that great but I've been at it since Monday and have managed to store an incredible 6 oz! 

That's my update. At 20 weeks I look as though I'm about 7 months pregnant. 

[ladydodson]

i am just in awe of the care you receive in sweden...that is AMAZING. hope you're feeling great still and congrats on your expanding family...triplets. wow. so so incredible. :)

[monkeyscience]

Oh.my.gosh. Emaya + triplets = my head exploding!

Congrats, Emaya!! I just clicked on this thread randomly because it was in the recently updated links and I'm bored a lot lately. I was so surprised to see you were having triplets!! Do you mind if I tell the other BSLs?? That is just CRAZY that you couldn't get pregnant at all, and now you have triplets! Best of luck with everything, and so glad you've got awesome doctors and are going to have help!!

[Emaya]

Thank you Monkey! How great that you just randomly clicked in! Yes, I am living in the twighlight zone right now. I've never been personally involved in such an ironic situation (trying and trying and trying and a surprise, unmedicated bfp that results in THREE fetuses)  -- or had such indisputable proof that the Higher Power has a sense of humor ("what was that? you're praying to get pregnant? Ta-dah! ha ha!"). 

After that crazy first ultrasound in week 18, I was thinking about sharing in BSLs, but I thought it might be unwelcome news for folks who might be having a tough day with AF or still no sign of ovulation. Especially because my own reaction at the time felt ungrateful, wrong and petty (four kids instead of the longed-for and economically feasible two took some mental adjustment, plus all the anxiety of a risk-filled pregnancy, premature babies, cesarean section, etc.). My feelings now are of awe and thankfulness that things are going well so far, and intense hopes and dreams of a future rich in love and large-family excitement. I am truly thankful and hopeful. 

Do mention it in the BSLs if you don't think it will cause anyone hurt. I continue to follow all of you closely, as I think every graduate does, as a BSL bfp is so darn exciting. Hugs to you and waiting to see yours soon! Sending you fertile thoughts (though you might be thinking, girl, keep your freaky triplet fertile thoughts away from my uterus! ).

[monkeyscience]

Well, if you're still stalking us, you'll see I mentioned the thread. :) I think most BSLs will just be very happy for you, if also a touch jealous. But I imagine you understand that. :) And yeah, sounds like all the prayers got backed up in the pipeline, and then got answered all at once! It's just crazy to me that you can go from secondary IF to natural triplets. But sure, if you have any fertile-triplet vibes, send them my way! I have decided, after watching waaaay too much Discovery Channel, that triplets is probably my personal limit for multiples. Anything past that is just scary and overwhelming to the extreme. Although I guess I will just take what comes to me!

It totally makes sense to be freaked out by triplets at first, especially before you found out what awesome resources and people you would be working with. It's still no guarantee that everything will go smoothly, but sounds like you've got a lot more going for you than many triplet moms!