It’s crazy to think about where we were a year ago. After spending time with our family in Winter Park, FL, Mike and I flew to Miami to spend the New Year Holiday. It wasn’t supposed to be our baby moon, but it was, since I was put on travel restrictions earlier than most. At this point I could make it until about 4 pm before getting sick which meant we could spend the day on the beach before spending the evening in our room. Poor Mike exhausted the in-room dining menu. I did make it up until the ball dropped and we watched fireworks from several different towns on our balcony.  We headed home and started to prepare for our new family.

I learned things in my Google searches like “No, you can’t put triplets in the same crib.” I read blog posts by triplet moms that were helpful and I learned that there were online communities for moms with triplets. That turned out to be the greatest discovery because that is where I met Mallory. Mallory and I were meant to have triplets so that we could meet and become friends. She delivered her triplets at West Penn a month before I did and so we spent most days checking in on each other. Her and her rock star babies made it to 35 weeks and 1 day and they went home with her. There is so much more to her story including the adoption of her two sons. You can check out her Instagram to see her crazy journey. Since meeting Mallory, we have added Angela to our daily text check in as she is 32 weeks pregnant with triplets and now we have a Pittsburgh Triplet Moms group on Facebook with 25 women and growing. So if you know someone who has triplets in Pittsburgh, tell them about it because we have hit the ground running with events and our own little community.

Goodbye First Trimester
We were almost out of the first trimester and it was time for our 12-week ultrasound. As our tech rolled the transducer over my belly, there they were, our three miracle babies. It was the family of five we never knew we needed. I held back tears and smiled at Mike. This had suddenly become more real, and seemed completely normal. I was carrying three babies, our babies. I was a mom to triplets. This was going to be our journey.

It doesn’t seem strange to have had three babies at once. Starting at 12 weeks, it became our normal. I always made our tech guess at their genders. Even at 12 weeks, Owen was always a boy. The other two showed no signs of boy features, but we waited until 16 weeks to be positive that they were girls. We had our families over for a gender reveal. Mike and I knew the genders but it was so fun to watch everyone’s reactions.

At 15 weeks we announced our news online. We called it our “hat trick” with Mike and my love of hockey it seemed like a good fit. We were overwhelmed with the response from our friends. I joked that we broke the internet. There were friends who had to look at the announcement a second time to realize that by “hat trick” we meant three babies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I hit 18 weeks, the sickness subsided and I was able to enjoy being pregnant. Our friends surprised us with a “Chuggies and Huggies” party. I don’t think I have ever been as surprised as I was that day. When we were pulling up to the house and saw the cars in the cul-de-sac I was slightly disappointed that I was going to have to share my time with our favorite two-year-old. It wasn’t until I fully walked into the house that I realized the party was for us.

The rest of my pregnancy was blissfully uneventful. I had a beautiful shower and we were overwhelmed with the love and generosity of so many. My work threw me a shower, which may have even been more of a going away party. I think most expected I wouldn’t be back. I was tired and had pregnancy rhinitis, which might be one of the most annoying symptoms, but overall, I felt good. I stayed in my routine and kept working. I cheered each milestone 24, 28, 30 weeks. I had goals of 34 or 35 weeks but that all changed at my 30.5 week appointment.