We found out that I was pregnant in October 2018, after previously having a miscarriage and stillbirth in 2017 we were cautious about possibly becoming parents. At my first ultrasound, I was told that there was more than one baby... more than two... there were three! This news was completely unexpected, and led to increased medical care and concern, given my previous pregnancy history.
Fast forward to May 2019 (after a temporary move to Vancouver from our home in the West Kootenay area of BC) and I was 34 weeks pregnant with three healthy babies - turns out they were identical triplet girls!
We had a scheduled date for the section, so I was mentally preparing for that, then at our last appointment before the section date it was found that one of the babies hadn't grown as much during the last week so it was decided to do the delivery that night.
As someone who plans and prepares, this news was a bit unnerving for me as I had stuff I wanted to do - LOL - but life had other plans.
My husband and I grabbed my hospital bag and some clothes for him, and then returned to the hospital to check in. The staff was great about explaining how the surgery would proceed, as well as that if the babies were healthy and strong we could hold them right after delivery.
There was a huge team of staff assigned to us- over 20 people, including special teams of nurses for each baby - my husband and I were awed by the precision of it all! The surgery itself was quick and easy - amazing what good drugs can do! - and our three amazing girls were delivered within 10 minutes! My time in recovery was relatively short - about an hour - then I was able to meet our girls. Amazing!
I spent two days with the girls as a patient of the hospital, then was discharged but we (my husband and I) stayed on as the girls' guardians in the NICU - we slept there for two weeks, which I don't really advise but we felt for us it was the best.
Overall I didn't experience much pain or discomfort from the c-section, and I don't feel that I missed out on a vaginal birth experience, mainly because I had a vaginal delivery with our still born daughter.
Almost a year later I am healed entirely and able to keep up with three super fun, active, engaging little humans.
One thing I would recommend to other parents who are going to have sections is talk to your babies before they are born, explain the process to them and let them know that you are going to hold them very very soon.
Though it may not seem that they can hear you/ understand, they do and they need that reassurance as they are going from a warm, safe environment to the cold air of our world without the transition time of labor... it happens much faster for them and can be traumatic, so take the time to explain and make the connection.
Katherine, Ain, Abigail, Olivia, and Ainsley Baird
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