Therese Trueman, from Bromsgrove, gave birth to three baby girls: Lucy Karina, Erin Odett and Freya Simone. Born at the Women’s Hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham the babies weighed in at 4lbs10oz, 5lbs10.5oz and 4lbs4.5oz respectively.
At first there were two…
Very early on in my pregnancy I wasn’t feeling very well so, at six weeks, my doctor ordered a scan, which showed that I was carrying twins. They asked me if there was a history of twins in our families and, sure enough, there was; my sister gave birth to identical twin girls.
We went away very happy with the news and returned at nine weeks for another scan, which showed yet another baby! All I can say is that it was a good thing I was lying down, or I would have fallen down, but Simon, my husband, was beaming with joy. I was happy about this news, of course, but I was also concerned. I knew about all the potential risks to the babies throughout the pregnancy and the birth, and that it was likely that they would be born premature, so it was hard to shake those more negative feelings completely from my mind.
I was even out walking the dogs the day before giving birth!
My work was brilliant at accommodating my needs during the pregnancy. I was on 12-hour shifts originally but they let me drop down to eight hours, then five or six. There was no way, even in the early months, that I could have worked as hard as I had been doing. I’ll definitely be going back again when my leave is up.
I expected to have a difficult pregnancy but I had no problems at all. It was textbook, in fact, until the last two weeks, when horrendous oedema set in. My legs and feet swelled up so much and I felt uncomfortable all of the time. I wasn’t getting much sleep and going up the stairs was a nightmare. However, I refused to give in to this and was even out walking my dogs the day before I gave birth!
Arriving in a bit of a rush
My C-Section was booked for my 35th week but I wanted to go on with the pregnancy for as long as possible. I had a check-up at the beginning of week 35 and felt fine but the next day I wasn’t feeling well at all. Two days later, my waters suddenly burst everywhere, so we rushed to the hospital at 6am.
Three hours later, my babies were born by C-Section. Erin, the heaviest, was taken to the special care baby unit as she needed some oxygen and there were fears that she had swallowed some of the fluid when my waters had broken. Identical twins Freya and Lucy ended up in the ward before I did!
The wonderful Women’s Hospital
I exclusively breastfed the girls for six weeks and I don’t think I would have been able to achieve this without the fantastic support from the Women’s Hospital in Edgbaston. It’s a specialist unit for mothers and premature babies, and we received all the care and attention we could have wished for, 24/7.
I usually tandem-fed the girls, with two at a time and then the third thereafter; they were so patient at waiting their turn! I kept a bottle of expressed breast milk ready in case the third baby needed it while I was feeding the other two and then, a few weeks later, I introduced a bottle of formula at night time to see if that helped them sleep for longer at night.
I still can’t believe what’s happened
Being back at home was a bit of a shock, to put it mildly! It’s all the practical things you need to think of and do; multiple changing, feeding, etc. Sometimes I would stare at the three Moses baskets in sheer amazement, and I still catch myself doing that now. I can’t help thinking that someone is suddenly going to turn up and say, ‘Thanks for looking after my babies; can I have them back now please?’.
I started keeping a journal soon after the birth so I can remind myself of this special time in years to come, and also so I can let the girls read all about their start in life when they are old enough.
I am determined to stay independent
I have always been determined to take the girls out on my own, and refused to believe that I needed someone else along to help. Instead of using our triple buggy, which is too cumbersome, I use a double buggy and strap the other child to my chest. Shopping is pretty easy and I even managed to get all my Christmas presents bought on my own. The only problem is that I am always getting stopped by people, who state the obvious, ‘You’ve got your hands full’.
Multitasking in motherhood
It’s true; I do have my hands full but the pure and simple answer to that is that I don’t have the time nor ability to give them the sort of one-to-one attention that a mum of a singleton can. We have to work together, the girls and I, in order to get through the day. When one of them cries, I have to ask myself do they really need picking up? Often I find myself rocking one girl in a rocker to soothe her, holding another one, and stroking the third one’s cheek.
Getting out on our own
So far Simon and I have managed to go out for a meal together on our own and
we’re planning, at some point, to see the new James Bond film. We’re lucky
in that lots of our friends and family are happy to babysit for us to
give us time alone but I wouldn’t feel it was fair to land one person
with three babies, so we ask for two people to be there. Sometimes, if
it’s just me going out, I will leave two of the girls with someone and
take the third with me so I can have some quality one-to-one time with
her. It’s great for the babies and lovely for me to get to know each and
every one of them as individuals.
Where to next?
- Read our article about How to have constructive discussions about money with your partner
- A woman’s work is never done! How to handle the chore wars with your other half!
- Mums on a (breastfeeding) mission. Meet a group of young mums who are inspiring mums to breastfeed.
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