After finding out I was pregnant with triplets, read all about that in PART I, so many questions came to mind. I’m 4’11, 125 lbs soaking wet. How would I be able to carry 3 healthy babies to full term (34-35 weeks is considered full term for triplets) in my petite body? How would it feel having 3 babies (6 arms and legs) moving and kicking around? I knew a lot of people who had twins, but not triplets. I only saw that on tv. I had no one I could turn to, to answer any of my questions or comfort me about the unknown.

Triple hormones

Early in my pregnancy, what is known as morning sickness, became morning, noon and night sickness for me. I was literally sick to my stomach. I had triple the amount of hormones in my body than a woman who is pregnant with one baby. Crazy right?! I barely left the house because I threw up everywhere I went. I was considered high risk of course, because there were 4 lives that had to be monitored including mine. I had OB visits every 2 wks and I also had to see a perinatologist (specialist for high risk pregnancies). After speaking with my doctor, she advised me she wouldn’t let me go past 34 weeks pregnant and would have to take the babies out via C-section. With my small body frame as I got bigger it would put myself and the babies lives at risk if I went past 34wks. So that was my goal! Each week that past was a milestone for me. One step closer to carrying my babies to full term.

Goodbye freedom, hello bedrest…

At 5 months pregnant I was taken out of work for tachycardia (fast heart rate) and an abnormal cardiac exam. Imagine sitting down doing absolutely nothing, and your heart starts to race as if you just ran the 100 meter dash, while being chased by a pit bull. That was me! My heart was working overtime trying to pump blood for myself and 3 babies. I didn’t want to stop working so early in my pregnancy. I was trying to work until the very end. My doctor gave me an ultimatum. Either you continue to work and risk having a heart attack or you sit your ass down and make sure you and these babies are safe. Say no more! 

Some women at 5 months are just starting to get a little baby bump and here I was with a full on penguin walk, could barely breathe, looking like I was about to give birth, and Braxton Hicks contractions (false labor contractions which felt like real ones) all day, every day.

Triple Threat

Because I was pregnant with triplets, that meant ONE good thing, I got to see the babies more often since I had to get checked frequently. Another reason I had to get checked so often was because two of my babies were in the same sac (identical) sharing one placenta, and my other baby was in another sac with her own placenta (fraternal). The identical babies could have what’s called twin to twin transfusion where one twin takes all the nutrients from the other one and blood supply, potentially putting that twin at harm. One baby would come out huge while the other one comes out very tiny. So we had to keep a close eye on that. Bi-weekly visits turned into weekly visits. After one of my visits, I received a call from my doctor that my bloodwork came back and she told me I was severely anemic and needed to get iron infusions 2x a week in order to stabilize my iron levels before my scheduled Csection. If my iron level wasn’t corrected I could possibly need blood transfusions after delivery from losing blood. I immediately called all my family members and had them all donate blood for me just in case I needed to have a blood transfusion. I wanted to be proactive, not reactive. 

My WEEKLY schedule:

•Cardiologist for my heart issues

•OBGYN Visits

•Perinatologist (High-risk doctor)

•Hematologist 2x a week for iron infusions 

This became a full time job and started to become too much for me. Everyday I felt myself getting weaker and weaker. Simple tasks were becoming nearly impossible for me to do. I couldn’t get in or out of bed. My husband had to help me. He took away my car keys and my independence because my stomach was touching the steering wheel. Sleep?? What’s that? I didn’t get any. There was no comfortable position for me at all. I was scared to even move because I just knew any movement would trigger a Braxton Hicks contraction and I would be curled up in pain with a rock solid stomach until it eased up. On top of all of that my hormones were on 100 and any and everything pissed me off. Oh yeah, I had my two other children that needed their mother as well. I still felt like I was super-woman and could do everything, meanwhile my body was slowly shutting down. 

Sick and tired of being sick and tired

At 32 weeks exactly, my dad was driving me to my hematology appointment for my iron infusion, and he looked at me with such a worried look on his face and told me I needed to call my doctor because I wasn’t looking good at all. My eyes were sunken in and had dark circles. Besides my belly getting bigger by the minute I was losing weight because I couldn’t eat and hadn’t eaten in 2wks. Nothing would go down. I could barely walk. I looked like a zombie. At this point, I was getting delirious and delusional. These babies were sucking the life out of me. After my appointment, I called my doctor and told her I couldn’t do this anymore, these babies needed to come out now and I felt like I was going to die. These babies were about to kill me. She made a phone call and told me go straight to the hospital and I was admitted. Everything after that was a complete blur. 

Triple Joy

August 15, 2018, at 33 weeks (1 week shy of my goal) I delivered my triple healthy blessings, thankfully without any blood transfusions or serious complications:
Baby A~ Jewel Milyon ~3lbs 2 oz

Baby B~ Jhem Maya ~3lbs 3oz

Baby C~ Jhené Marley ~4lbs 

After spending nearly 2 weeks in the hospital for severe dehydration and seeing countless specialists, I was finally cleared to go home. Unfortunately this meant going home without my babies who needed to stay in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to be monitored. 

I hope you enjoyed reading, just as much as I loved sharing my story! Comment below, I would love to hear some of your amazing/challenging pregnancy stories. 

Until next time, 
Mommi Diane