Speaker 1: You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2: Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
Speaker 2: that this podcast is recorded on. We pay our respects
Speaker 2: to elders past, present and emerging, and feel privileged to
Speaker 2: continue the sharing of birth stories and knowledge that has
Speaker 2: been a fundamental part of Indigenous culture.
Speaker 3: Hi.
Speaker 2: I'm Cassenya Lukij and this is diary of a birth.
Speaker 2: Growing a baby is truly a remarkable thing, from the
Speaker 2: tiny poppy seed to a fully grown baby in just
Speaker 2: nine months. If you've had a pregnancy, you know that
Speaker 2: the reality is that it's often not an easy task.
Speaker 2: But the thought of housing multiples has always been absolutely
Speaker 2: astounding to me. Wanting to grow her family, today's mum
Speaker 2: went for her dating scan with baby number two, expecting
Speaker 2: nothing out of the ordinary. But then the old sound
Speaker 2: tech started count one, two, three.
Speaker 1: She was having triplets, and then she took second to
Speaker 1: be like, and there's a third one over here. And
Speaker 1: at that point I was like, my eyes were just
Speaker 1: so shocked, and I was like, please stop counting.
Speaker 2: With a toddler in tow a demanding career and a
Speaker 2: two bedroom apartment, things were about to change. Traumatically, leading
Speaker 2: her to not only deliver three healthy babies, but also
Speaker 2: becoming an advocate for parents of multiples. So let's meet
Speaker 2: today's mum.
Speaker 1: Hi, this is Celia and this is the diary of
Speaker 1: my birth with triplets.
Speaker 2: So, Celia, you have a pretty incredible story. You know
Speaker 2: the work that you do now, which we'll talk about
Speaker 2: a little bit later. But you and your husband Jordan,
Speaker 2: had an eighteen month old bub Mad's and decided that
Speaker 2: you wanted to grow your family. So what did that
Speaker 2: kind of look like? What year are we talking?
Speaker 1: Oh, this is post COVID or still in the COVID times,
Speaker 1: about twenty twenty one, and we were looking to have
Speaker 1: another child. We really loved matt'son, really enjoyed the experience,
Speaker 1: and we just tried too hard. I think we were
Speaker 1: really looking forward to growing our family.
Speaker 2: And did you forull pregnant fairly easily?
Speaker 1: I did for pregnant surprisingly quickly. I think I had
Speaker 1: just taken out the IUD birth control and we're going
Speaker 1: to start straight away. And I pretty much got pregnant
Speaker 1: literally the next cycle. So it was really quick and
Speaker 1: sudden and exciting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but also such a shock even when you want
Speaker 2: to if you're like, Okay, I've got some time. Maybe
Speaker 2: we've got like six months, maybe it's three months, and
Speaker 2: then it happens straight away. There is that element of.
Speaker 1: Shock finitely, especially because with Mad's my first child. We
Speaker 1: weren't really trying. It just happened, So I had no idea,
Speaker 1: you had no metric of how long I'd have to
Speaker 1: wait to have a second child or how long it
Speaker 1: might take. So we were were really not thinking about
Speaker 1: it too much and then it just happened so quickly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it was really exciting.
Speaker 2: If you don't mind me asking, how old were you
Speaker 2: when you fell pregnant with the triplets.
Speaker 1: With the triplets, it's twenty six.
Speaker 2: Twenty six, okay, so fairly young. You go to your
Speaker 2: dating scan, and can you tell me about the experience
Speaker 2: of walking in the dating scan with Jordan.
Speaker 1: It was still COVID time, so there was a chance
Speaker 1: Jordan wouldn't even be able to come to that scan
Speaker 1: for some reason, and we found a place where he
Speaker 1: could come and he did, And I was feeling so
Speaker 1: confident walking into that dating scan because I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, when you have a second kid and you're like, okay,
Speaker 1: more confident parent. This time around, I felt like really
Speaker 1: excited to do some things that I hadn't done with
Speaker 1: my first child that I felt like, I'm going to
Speaker 1: do it differently this time. And that just fully went
Speaker 1: out the window when I was in this dating scan,
Speaker 1: so lying down adult sound, and the woman who was
Speaker 1: doing the scan just looked at us and you know
Speaker 1: when it's really quiet and you're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: what's wrong. Yeah, taking a long time, and she was
Speaker 1: just like, how did you get pregnant? How did you conceive?
Speaker 1: And I was like, what do you mean? I thought
Speaker 1: it was a really odd question. Was those small talk
Speaker 1: the usual way or you know? She was like, okay,
Speaker 1: because I'll just tell you what I can see here
Speaker 1: and I was like, okay, yeah, what can you see?
Speaker 1: And she was like, I've got one here, I've got
Speaker 1: a heartbeat, and I was like great. She's like, and
Speaker 1: I can see a second one over here, and at
Speaker 1: that point we were like, oh my gosh, twins, Like
Speaker 1: that's exciting. And then she took a second to be
Speaker 1: like and there's a third one over here, and at
Speaker 1: that point I was like my eyes were just so
Speaker 1: shock and I was like, please stop counting, like is
Speaker 1: that like? Because the way she said it was like
Speaker 1: so much drama. And she was like, I'll just check
Speaker 1: there's no more and I was like, yeah.
Speaker 2: You will check, Please, will Chase do what else.
Speaker 1: Is in there? Jordan was laughing, He was just smiling
Speaker 1: at me. He just thought this is incredible. It's a miracle.
Speaker 1: And I was just like I couldn't process. I was
Speaker 1: just like going to shock. Basically, you're just thinking like
Speaker 1: what is going on. We actually got her to print
Speaker 1: out the ultrasound pictures because I was like I need them.
Speaker 1: I need to be able to see that this is real.
Speaker 1: And we walked out of that and the thoughts that
Speaker 1: go through your head after you find out that information.
Speaker 1: I was just like going through so many logistical thoughts
Speaker 1: like do we need a big car? Do we need
Speaker 1: to move house because we live in a two bedroom
Speaker 1: house in Sydney renting, and like what kind of pram
Speaker 1: do you have with triplets? And just immediately down this
Speaker 1: like rabbit hole of thoughts and me and Jordan get
Speaker 1: back to our house. I just remember I was like,
Speaker 1: can you just get a piece of paper? We need
Speaker 1: to like work out all the things that we need
Speaker 1: like very practical.
Speaker 2: Geahn, are you quite type A?
Speaker 1: I guess organized about this? I was like, if I
Speaker 1: can work out how this could work, like okay, make
Speaker 1: some decisions like we're going to move house or do
Speaker 1: we need a car, and just work those things out,
Speaker 1: like what kind of prem would I want? Would we
Speaker 1: need to get? Then I felt like, okay, we can
Speaker 1: do it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: After we had that conversation and I went down like
Speaker 1: rabbit holes of like other mums on Instagram who had
Speaker 1: triplets and how to look at what prems they used
Speaker 1: or what their experience was. And that was like my
Speaker 1: day one level of knowledge of like how I'm going
Speaker 1: to do this? Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, I mean, spontaneous triplets is not very common. As
Speaker 2: we know. It's an egg that comes down, and if
Speaker 2: you're dropping multiple eggs, you get twins. If the egg splits,
Speaker 2: you get an identical twin. But to have three eggs drop, yeah,
Speaker 2: three eggs fertilized spontaneously is not particularly common. No, So
Speaker 2: what was your family's response.
Speaker 1: Neither side of our family has any multiples, so it
Speaker 1: wasn't on our radar at all. Really did not cross
Speaker 1: my mind that this could be a possibility for me.
Speaker 1: This could happen to me, and my family were just
Speaker 1: equally as shocked and just like show me the photos
Speaker 1: because I don't believe you, and then yeah, they were
Speaker 1: just trying to match our energy. We were really excited. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you can have mixed feelings, so normal to have mixed
Speaker 1: feelings about finding out that you're having multiples. I'd made
Speaker 1: the decision quite early on. I don't even think it
Speaker 1: was really a decision that I would be going ahead
Speaker 1: with this, and I'm a triplet mum.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think it would be abnormal though for
Speaker 2: someone to think is this something that I can handle?
Speaker 2: And I think that that would be a really no
Speaker 2: more thought to have. But yeah, look, obviously a complete shock, overwhelmed,
Speaker 2: but you took it anyway. You know what, these are
Speaker 2: the cards that we have been dealt, and we're going
Speaker 2: to manage theirs.
Speaker 3: Ye.
Speaker 2: So obviously being a multiple pregnancy, a triple pregnancy, you
Speaker 2: were considered high risk. What was your prenatal care?
Speaker 1: Like I had a really good GPS that i'd been
Speaker 1: seeing since like i'd had MADS, so I was really
Speaker 1: fortunate and I went to see her immediately and I
Speaker 1: was like, have you seen this scan, and she was
Speaker 1: like in a really thoughtful way, she was like, not
Speaker 1: everyone can handle this sort of what you're saying, and
Speaker 1: there are options if you can't. And I just felt
Speaker 1: like that was a really beautiful way of putting it.
Speaker 1: But at that point, I was nine weeks, you know,
Speaker 1: from the beginning of finding out it already accepted like
Speaker 1: diet am going through with this and obviously selective I
Speaker 1: don't know what it's called, but you could reduce your pregnancy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's really touchy subject with parents of multiples. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And obviously different doctors can bring it up in a
Speaker 1: really different way, and I really appreciate the way my
Speaker 1: GP brought it up at that point. She was like, great,
Speaker 1: you're gonna go ahead with it, and like, this is
Speaker 1: what we're going to do. You're going to get linked
Speaker 1: up with the hospital as a high risk pregnancy. So
Speaker 1: I was referred to the RPA and started seeing different doctors.
Speaker 1: Basically every time I went to the clinic, I'd get
Speaker 1: a new doctor and just have really long scans that
Speaker 1: would take forever because they have to assess each baby,
Speaker 1: and the part that took the longest was working out
Speaker 1: which one was which yeah, making sure that they're scanning
Speaker 1: the right one every time.
Speaker 2: So was it three fraternal?
Speaker 1: Yes, so it's called TCTA. So try choreonic, try amniotic.
Speaker 1: They're each in their own sack, they each had their
Speaker 1: own center. They couldn't guarantee that they were for eternal
Speaker 1: from the start, but once they were born, it was
Speaker 1: obvious to me that they were fraternal, at least the
Speaker 1: two boys.
Speaker 2: You must have been starving, Oh, I was so hungry.
Speaker 2: I know that sounds like a crazy question, but I mean,
Speaker 2: growing three babies, that's a huge undertaking. How did you
Speaker 2: feel within your body as you were growing these babies?
Speaker 2: Were you scared for if your body could handle it?
Speaker 1: Absolutely? I think I kept kind of reverting back to
Speaker 1: this match, like my body created these humans and it
Speaker 1: can handle them. But I was really scared. I had
Speaker 1: no idea. I think I just wasn't prepared. No one's
Speaker 1: really prepared to have multiples. And there's so many risks
Speaker 1: that the doctor wants to tell you straight up, like
Speaker 1: you could experience like much higher risk of premature labor
Speaker 1: or birth, and different multiple specific risk to babies like
Speaker 1: restricted growth, and if they share a placenter, there's other
Speaker 1: risks though. They were like, well, because they've each got
Speaker 1: their own, you're having three pregnancies at once, like was
Speaker 1: the way they described it. Because other twins could have
Speaker 1: a shared placenta or a shared sack, and they have
Speaker 1: more risks. So he was like, in a good way,
Speaker 1: You've got like the least risky version of a triplet pregnancy,
Speaker 1: was what the doctor told me. I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: we'll take the winds or I can get it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was feeling a lot of things. I had
Speaker 1: a toddler. I was thinking about him. I was thinking
Speaker 1: what that would mean for him. I'm going to be,
Speaker 1: you know, really care about my career a lawyer, you know,
Speaker 1: young lawyer at the time, and I thought, okay, does
Speaker 1: that mean that's over or how much more time am
Speaker 1: I gonna have to take off? Just the pressure of
Speaker 1: like the COVID times as well, and then just thinking
Speaker 1: about the cost, just trying to find other people who've
Speaker 1: experienced a triplet pregnancy and have triplets. I didn't know
Speaker 1: anyone at the time, any one person that I reached
Speaker 1: out to. Just trying to work out so many things
Speaker 1: at once.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean Mad's was only eighteen months old,
Speaker 2: so you know, even with a single pregnancy, running after
Speaker 2: a toddler while you're pregnant is exhausting, and being a
Speaker 2: lawyer is a very high demand job. Did you speak
Speaker 2: to your firm about what that would mean? Did you
Speaker 2: talk to them about finishing early?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 2: How supportive were they with you?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: Really supportive. I was really grateful. One of my managers
Speaker 1: she had twins. They were like grown up, and so
Speaker 1: she was like, welcome to the club, this exclusive club multiples. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it was such a warm reception to the news.
Speaker 1: And I remember doing it on a team meeting because
Speaker 1: we were all working from home at the time, I think,
Speaker 1: and just been like I've got an announcement like pregnant,
Speaker 1: and team was like, yeah, yeah, that's exciting and not
Speaker 1: like a huge surprise because I had an eighteen month old,
Speaker 1: you know. But then I put a photo of the ultrasound,
Speaker 1: like shared screen with the ultrasound image and everyone was like,
Speaker 1: what do you mean.
Speaker 2: It's definitely not something that you hear every day coming up.
Speaker 1: So I just have this moment that was like so
Speaker 1: special where they put all three babies on my chest
Speaker 1: and Jordan's taking this video of me, and I just
Speaker 1: couldn't believe it. I was like, did this really happen?
Speaker 2: So let's talk about towards the end of the pregnancy.
Speaker 1: How are you feeling tired, exhausted and still trying to
Speaker 1: look after Mads and do things. And I was just
Speaker 1: saying the other day, like, I don't know if this
Speaker 1: is part of that thing where after you give birth
Speaker 1: there's a hormone that just tries to wipe your memory
Speaker 1: of being pregnant, because I can't actually put myself back
Speaker 1: in that body, but I do remember how I was
Speaker 1: so tired, I was falling asleep during the day, how
Speaker 1: heavy I was, Like I was basically full term by
Speaker 1: twenty weeks pregnant, and people would be like, oh, I
Speaker 1: must be ready to go any date. I've got weeks
Speaker 1: to go, got weeks to go, and I'm getting so big,
Speaker 1: so heavy, and dealing with appointments and trying to look
Speaker 1: after a toddler and work and also buy a car
Speaker 1: and like get all these different things. And I joined
Speaker 1: my local multiple berth club, which was amazing because got
Speaker 1: so much support from them, emotional and support connection and
Speaker 1: also just a place where I could ask the random
Speaker 1: niche questions that only a parent of you know, triplets
Speaker 1: would ask and get so many different answers and people's suggestions.
Speaker 2: I feel like we're very fortunate in this day and
Speaker 2: age where there are so many of these support group
Speaker 2: there are no matter what you're going through, there is
Speaker 2: probably someone out there that is going through the same thing.
Speaker 2: So to have that kind of support makes you feel
Speaker 2: a lot less alone. I am absolutely without making assumptions,
Speaker 2: I'm assuming you had a cesarean.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, I mean I don't know.
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes back in the day, they wouldn't it happened.
Speaker 1: It does happen.
Speaker 2: It happened, but obviously for your safety they would have
Speaker 2: recommended a cesarean for you.
Speaker 1: When were they hoping to have that in place? It
Speaker 1: was a week by week assessment. Actually it was really
Speaker 1: like I think it's a product of me almost seeing
Speaker 1: a different doctor every time I went to the hospital.
Speaker 1: But essentially it would be like, go to the hospital,
Speaker 1: get measured, do your ultrasound, see how they're growing, and
Speaker 1: then a doctor would look at that and be like, yep,
Speaker 1: everything's going fine. And honestly just kept progressing in that
Speaker 1: way and there was no reason to rush When it
Speaker 1: got to about thirty three weeks thirty four weeks, I
Speaker 1: was like, what's going on? Because I am mentally done,
Speaker 1: Like I just can't so heavy, I'm not sleeping, I'm
Speaker 1: so sore, I've got pups rush. I was getting close
Speaker 1: to the end of like when I could hold on
Speaker 1: to and it was ideal to keep them in until
Speaker 1: about thirty five weeks, something about like their lungs developing,
Speaker 1: so I was trying to hold on till then. But
Speaker 1: by about thirty four weeks, I was like, please, just
Speaker 1: when am I going to do this? And they were like, oh,
Speaker 1: we actually don't have any spots for another two weeks
Speaker 1: or something, and I was like, no, no, I don't
Speaker 1: think you understand. I need to come out sooner than that.
Speaker 1: So I had to go kind of through an emergency pathway,
Speaker 1: it's what they called it. But it was the same
Speaker 1: as what anyone would experience. I guess. It just wasn't
Speaker 1: like a set date for me. It was like come
Speaker 1: in on Friday and then like probably on the weekend,
Speaker 1: like woh, Monday, it will happen. So yeah, I had
Speaker 1: an iron infusion because they were concerned about are the
Speaker 1: best thing ever yeah, and thank god I had that
Speaker 1: because I lost lots of blood. They were like the imfusion. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I did that first and then got admitted into
Speaker 1: the hospital with Jordan, and at that time still COVID rules,
Speaker 1: so if Jordan had been tested positive with COVID, he
Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to be at the birth. So I
Speaker 1: was so stressed, Like it was a really stressful time
Speaker 1: just in the lead up, being like I'm so done. Also,
Speaker 1: we can't get COVID because like you cannot not be there,
Speaker 1: and they only allowed one support person the birth. Like
Speaker 1: I'm sure that's not the case now, but that just
Speaker 1: inevitably meant that we would be separated. Because I knew
Speaker 1: that the babies would be born prematurely. They were going
Speaker 1: to go to the NIKU and I was going to
Speaker 1: go somewhere else. So just like having to come to
Speaker 1: terms with you're not going to have this birth that
Speaker 1: you had when you had one child. It's going to
Speaker 1: be entirely different, and there's lots of things you can't
Speaker 1: control having true blitz. So it's just trying to mentally
Speaker 1: prepare for that birth that wasn't going to be anywhere
Speaker 1: near thing I had experienced or anyone else I knew
Speaker 1: had experienced. This is really stressful kind of context and
Speaker 1: trying to keep calmness. And yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Mean I think that the mental aspect of it is
Speaker 2: incredibly important. And you know, I had one of my
Speaker 2: babies in COVID too, and that anxiety of Okay, if
Speaker 2: I get COVID, I'm giving birth in a COVID ward alone.
Speaker 2: If he gets COVID, he can't come. It's a lot
Speaker 2: of additional thoughts and a lot of the stories that
Speaker 2: we've been telling recently obviously around that time, but it
Speaker 2: was it was this real moment in time of this fear,
Speaker 2: additional fear, not to mention that you're also carrying three babies.
Speaker 2: So the babies are born on the twenty first of January.
Speaker 2: Tell me about when they came out.
Speaker 1: Yes, it was an incredible day of anticipation. So me
Speaker 1: and Jordan we actually got our own room, and then
Speaker 1: I felt like the doctors were kind of fighting over
Speaker 1: who could do the birth. This woman doctor was like,
Speaker 1: I think I'm going to do it, and I was like, great,
Speaker 1: you do it. Like you know, it's a quite exciting
Speaker 1: thing for a doctor. I think I assume and we
Speaker 1: had a chat with the anesthetist and go down to
Speaker 1: the room like I'd had a cesarean before because I
Speaker 1: had MADS. And the one request I made to the
Speaker 1: doctor was about not getting them mixed up because I'd
Speaker 1: already named them inside me. So he was like any
Speaker 1: other question. I was like, yes, this one is Eric,
Speaker 1: this one is Teddy, and that one's Ada, and you
Speaker 1: cannot mix them up when you take them out. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Ada you know that one. But the boys I had
Speaker 1: already named inside me, just based on their movements. So
Speaker 1: I was really stressed that to him, and he's like, okay,
Speaker 1: got it.
Speaker 2: I love that you could tell who was moving.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I could tell. I could tell. Teddy just had
Speaker 1: this personality of like a little soft Teddy Bear and
Speaker 1: he wouldn't move very much. And Eric was like kicking
Speaker 1: like crazy, Like I have these videos of my stomach
Speaker 1: and you'll think, like Frush Show, you'll think it's an
Speaker 1: alien or something because it just looks like limbs poking
Speaker 1: out of my stomach. That's probably Eric. And it's so
Speaker 1: funny just reflecting on that part now, because they could
Speaker 1: not have each other's names because Teddy's like this teddy
Speaker 1: Bear and Eric is like just this super independent just
Speaker 1: wants to run around and like jump on things, and
Speaker 1: it matches their personality so much, and it was something
Speaker 1: I was so sure about before giving birth. I was like,
Speaker 1: don't mix them up, because that is their names. And
Speaker 1: it was something that we both agreed we needed to
Speaker 1: have sorted because the chaos already of having three. We're
Speaker 1: not like naming them afterwards or something. We're like, get
Speaker 1: it all done, yeah, make sure they're labeled and got
Speaker 1: the names. And so then I got wheeled into the
Speaker 1: operating room and obviously Jordan had to step outside because
Speaker 1: they don't let them be there when you have the needle,
Speaker 1: and he found that really stressful because he was like,
Speaker 1: it's so hard not being there with you. But once
Speaker 1: he came back in, they started the operation and basically
Speaker 1: the same as necessarian that I'd had before. There's nothing
Speaker 1: that I hadn't expected, but yeah, the amazement of having
Speaker 1: three come out, and also just the incredible amount of
Speaker 1: people in that room in the operating theater, like never
Speaker 1: seen so many doctors, nurses, like pediatrician, per child like
Speaker 1: on standby, Like it was crazy with so many people
Speaker 1: and they brought out Ada first and like took down
Speaker 1: the sheets so I could see her, and then Teddy
Speaker 1: was next, and then Eric and one of the midwives
Speaker 1: actually brought Ada to my face so I could see her.
Speaker 1: Because I really had the lowest expectations of what could
Speaker 1: happen because they were premature. I was thirty four weeks
Speaker 1: and five days at that point. You know, they set
Speaker 1: you up. They're like, well, if there's an issue, you know,
Speaker 1: they might just have to be taken away straight away.
Speaker 1: Being able to be next to her, I didn't get
Speaker 1: to hold her, but like put our faces together and
Speaker 1: see her face. So the first time was incredible. Yeah, yeah, this.
Speaker 2: Makes me want to tear up a beautiful Yeah me too. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So obviously they had to spend a few weeks in
Speaker 2: the niqueu to help their lungs develop. I imagine how
Speaker 2: long were they in niku for nineteen days total? That
Speaker 2: was actually really good. Yeah, and for being that premature.
Speaker 2: After the birth, they went into the recovery and didn't
Speaker 2: get to hold them straight away. They were down in
Speaker 2: the nicku and Jordan was with them. He was taking
Speaker 2: videos of them for me, being very good sending them
Speaker 2: to me. Good heave you yeah, very good.
Speaker 1: Then it took quite some time, like quite a few
Speaker 1: hours for me to actually properly go meet them for
Speaker 1: the first time, felt like forever. It was about nine
Speaker 1: hours I think after the operation because I had issues,
Speaker 1: like with pain. It was in so much pain, like
Speaker 1: a nine up twoin. No one was there to advocate
Speaker 1: for me. Jordan's with the baby, so I was just
Speaker 1: like pressing the button hoping someone will come. Once I
Speaker 1: got the pain managed, then me and Jordan went down
Speaker 1: there together and I could They had to like wheel
Speaker 1: your whole bed down to the NICU.
Speaker 2: Well you're not walking delivering three, god know.
Speaker 1: And they let me have a cuddle with one and
Speaker 1: then they just put the other two on my chest
Speaker 1: as well. So I just have this moment that was
Speaker 1: like so special where they put all three babies on
Speaker 1: my chest and Jordan's taking this video of me, and
Speaker 1: I just couldn't believe it. I was like, did this
Speaker 1: really happen? Like I was just feeling so grateful in
Speaker 1: that moment that my body managed to do that and
Speaker 1: I had these three babies and they were safe, they
Speaker 1: were on my chest and I could feel them for
Speaker 1: the first time. Properly.
Speaker 2: Did you feel really proud of yourself?
Speaker 1: I did. I was just like it's one of those
Speaker 1: moments that just takes you out of as weld, Like
Speaker 1: it was really timelessly just a moment for me and
Speaker 1: for Jordan. Yeah, he was just in so much awe
Speaker 1: of how I could do that as well, I think
Speaker 1: getting the physical representation of like, wow, how did you
Speaker 1: do that? Like You've made these three perfect babies, like
Speaker 1: it was, yeah.
Speaker 2: It's beautiful. In nineteen days? So did you I imagine you're
Speaker 2: probably in there for about a week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was about five days to a week I think,
Speaker 1: and then yeah, they just sent you home.
Speaker 2: And you just came in I imagine every day to ye, yeah,
Speaker 2: do what you need to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you've got to. We tried to work out a
Speaker 1: little routine where we would Mads would be with my
Speaker 1: parents and then we would go around the same times,
Speaker 1: be feeding times, do a feed. I was breastfeeding two
Speaker 1: at once, not trying to and trying to get the
Speaker 1: help of the lactation consultants to help me do two
Speaker 1: at once so that when I came home I could
Speaker 1: do it by myself.
Speaker 2: Did you breastfeed for long? All that is amazing. Us
Speaker 2: mothers know how challenging breastfeeding can be. One of my
Speaker 2: very very close friends went through twins and trying to
Speaker 2: tend and breastfeed them was one of the most difficult
Speaker 2: things that she went through, and I really applaud you
Speaker 2: for that. Well done for doing that, and I can't
Speaker 2: imagine how exhausted you would have been through that. I
Speaker 2: know you really advocate for support and mental health for
Speaker 2: multiple parents. Can you tell me a little bit about
Speaker 2: the work that you're doing now.
Speaker 1: When the triples. For about six months, I started volunteering
Speaker 1: for the Australian Multiple Birth Association and I'm now the chair.
Speaker 1: It really came from a place of feeling so compelled
Speaker 1: to help other parents in my situation and who have
Speaker 1: multiples feel more supported because I've felt so isolated and
Speaker 1: so in need of support throughout the time pregnancy, especially
Speaker 1: during the first year of having premature babies at home,
Speaker 1: and there just was not enough support in Australia. There
Speaker 1: just isn't. There's not enough acknowledgment from the government that
Speaker 1: multiples require more support. And so since I've started volunteering
Speaker 1: a lot, doing a lot of the advocacy work. We've
Speaker 1: been asking the government for parentally per baby because we
Speaker 1: think that if we had them one at a time,
Speaker 1: we would be eligible for more parental leave. But because
Speaker 1: we're so efficient, we have them all together, they can
Speaker 1: give us. It's not my fault of efficient exactly. We
Speaker 1: obviously need more financial support and support for the organization
Speaker 1: so that we're able to support parents better and provide
Speaker 1: more hands on community support as well. You're five times
Speaker 1: more likely to experience post netal depression if you've had multiples,
Speaker 1: and that's a real concern for us. We know that
Speaker 1: so many parents say if they had more domestic or
Speaker 1: hands on support or more of a community that would
Speaker 1: have helped with their mental health, and we want to
Speaker 1: be able to provide that to them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, kids are expensive, we know they're expensive. You know,
Speaker 2: a box of nappies is thirty five forty bucks. You're
Speaker 2: going through that multiple times. I mean lower income families,
Speaker 2: rural areas. You know, is there a lot of work
Speaker 2: that you do with that part of the community as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've got local clubs all over Australia in every
Speaker 1: state and territory, and what parents are saying is, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're struggling with childcare, they're struggling with the cost of living.
Speaker 1: There's no additional relief for a parent of multiples. You
Speaker 1: don't get anything. I felt like I was basically treated
Speaker 1: as if I had one child going through the system.
Speaker 1: And that's a really hard hit to take, and a
Speaker 1: lot of families just can't do that. Good friend of
Speaker 1: mine who's got quadruplets, you know, she had to set
Speaker 1: up a GoFundMe page so that she could be able
Speaker 1: to afford extensions to her house. And this is what
Speaker 1: you have to resort to when you have more than
Speaker 1: you've expected and there's just no support for that.
Speaker 2: It's three times of everything. I mean a car, say
Speaker 2: it's six hundred bucks, the PRAM is three hundred to
Speaker 2: one thousand dollars, and it's like, oh, we'll just get
Speaker 2: your family to help. But like, there's only if everybody
Speaker 2: has family, not everybody has family support. And then you're
Speaker 2: looking at childcare for two hundred dollars a day, and
Speaker 2: then you get a little bit of a rebate, but
Speaker 2: then who's working, who's not working, Like it's a huge issue.
Speaker 2: So thank you for the work that you're doing. And
Speaker 2: I really hope that we can sort of try and
Speaker 2: relieve some pressure from mums of multiples. And congratulations on
Speaker 2: your babies. How old are they now?
Speaker 1: They're three? Three?
Speaker 2: Are they driving you insane?
Speaker 1: No? I love it. No, they're really funny. Actually, they're
Speaker 1: just I feel like I'm writing a childcare. They don't
Speaker 1: have their own language. I mean that can can be
Speaker 1: common with multiples. But they play their own games together now,
Speaker 1: like they're really to imagine itive play, and like they
Speaker 1: just without speaking to each other. They don't have a conversation.
Speaker 1: They just start doing things like I'll pretend to be
Speaker 1: dog and you can walk around like I'm a dog.
Speaker 1: And they haven't even had conversation. It's so interesting to
Speaker 1: watch them. They're fascinating. It's so much fun.
Speaker 2: At least they're entertaining each other. Yeah, you know that.
Speaker 2: That's They've got buddies for life. And I'm sure Mads
Speaker 2: isn't too left out either. He's their leader. He's like,
Speaker 2: this is what we're doing now. He loves it, he
Speaker 2: loves that. Yeah, he's great. Well, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for your time today and sharing your story.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Celia's story is astounding to me, but I wanted to
Speaker 2: know how common are spontaneous triplets. For this, we turn
Speaker 2: to obstetrician and gynecologist doctor Bronwin Devine.
Speaker 3: Well, it's not common at all, but we're seeing more
Speaker 3: spontaneous triplets now because fertility clinics are very, very reluctant
Speaker 3: to put back multiple embryos and very careful when they're
Speaker 3: doing ovulation induction cycles to avoid people having multiple pregnancy.
Speaker 3: So we're seeing more spontaneous multiples coming through than we
Speaker 3: used to see in the days when fertility clinics were
Speaker 3: a little bit more likely to put back multiple embryos
Speaker 3: in IVF cycles. But certainly the incidence of spontaneous triplets
Speaker 3: in Australia is sort of between about one in six
Speaker 3: and a half thousand and one in seven thousand, so
Speaker 3: not super common, but you do see them coming through.
Speaker 3: And it is always shocking when you go via dating
Speaker 3: scan and the sonographer becomes very quiet and suddenly you're
Speaker 3: looking at the screen and you can see three sacks
Speaker 3: up there and hopefully three heartbeats up there.
Speaker 2: And as an experienced OPI, what's it like delivering multiples?
Speaker 3: So I've delivered triplets. I've actually delivered some triplets vaginally
Speaker 3: back in the day. But that was a lady who
Speaker 3: came into pre term labor and was in cracking labor
Speaker 3: and sort of went on and delivered quite quickly. But
Speaker 3: usually we try to deliver higher auto multiple pregnancies. Bices
Speaker 3: are in section and so I've been involved with some
Speaker 3: triplet burths. We had a set of quadruplets at one
Speaker 3: of the public hospitals that I work at, I think
Speaker 3: it was last year, and oh, you could not get
Speaker 3: a seat at that table. I might have even been
Speaker 3: on call for the day for the delivery suite, but
Speaker 3: there were many other obstetricians who put their hand up
Speaker 3: before me to be present for the caesar. You know,
Speaker 3: that might be a once in a lifetime or twice
Speaker 3: in a lifetime thing as an obstetrician to see quadruplets
Speaker 3: being delivered. So yes, but there was a cast of
Speaker 3: thousands because you've got to have a pediatrician present for
Speaker 3: all the baby, so four pediatricians and four pediatric intensive
Speaker 3: care nurses or neonatal intensive care nurses present, and a
Speaker 3: number of antists, the surgical team and the theater team.
Speaker 3: So there's lots and lots of people in the theater.
Speaker 2: Diary of a Birth was hosted by me Kasanye Lukitch
Speaker 2: with expert input from doctor Broman. Divine and while we
Speaker 2: have you here, we are on the hunt to share powerful,
Speaker 2: underrepresented stories from people of all cultures, backgrounds, and abilities,
Speaker 2: so please get in touch. This episode was produced by
Speaker 2: Tina Matalov and myself Cassanya Lukich, with audio production by
Speaker 2: Leah Porges