Triplets Are Unpredictable

After 5 weeks of hospital bed rest, my friend made it to 28 weeks and 1 day.  She delivered her triplet boys this morning 3 hours after her water broke.  I had just spoke to her yesterday and everything was going well.  Her cervix was improving and no signs of contractions.  She was hoping for another 4-5 weeks of baking, but I guess the boys were ready to see the world!!  As of right now, the new mommy is doing great and sounds so happy.  All 3 boys are doing well, but, of course, are in the NICU.  Two of them weigh over 1 pound and the other weighs over 2 pounds, all about 12 inches long.  We are all thrilled that she made it this far, due to the situation she was in.  She managed to cook those babies as long as possible, and 28 weeks was where the doctors wanted her to go.

Triplets can really come at any time.  There are so many milestones for triplet parents to count down to.  At 24 weeks, babies are considered viable.  They have a chance to live outside of the womb and live healthy lives.  However, this is still really early and many babies can experience lots of difficulty breathing and eating, so NICU time is extremely long.  At 28 weeks, triplet babies are safe to be delivered and most likely survive.  Doctors say that the main goal is to make it past 28 weeks for the best outcome.  At 32 weeks, most triplets are born.  It is difficult getting a woman past this point because the fact is, the uterus just stops growing at some point.  The belly can only stretch so much and the babies need room to grow.  At 34-35 weeks, most women cannot carry past this point and doctors will not allow a triplet pregnancy to continue.  It is far too dangerous for both the mother and babies, so delivery usually takes place by then.

But, the fact is, triplets really can come at any time.  One day we can all be completely healthy and stable, and the next day we could be in labor.  There is never a guarantee to when a triplet mom will deliver.  Every day the babies stay in the oven is another day closer to healthy lives!!

We have so many weeks to look forward to.  We are just about 20 weeks now and are really almost done!!  I think I have been doing surprisingly well compared to most triplet pregnancies, so we are all hoping that this luck will continue.

Congrats to the new momma of triplets!!!