Life Changes with MS: Becoming a New Mom of Four

Wow, it's crazy to think I haven't gotten to write in over a year. If you haven't noticed, I have been a little MIA lately on MultipleSclerosis.net. The reason being that I welcomed our spontaneous triplets in August of 2019, and what a beautiful blur it has been! Let me catch you up on the last year of life! I cannot possibly fit all the ups and downs of my hiatus in this one article, so this will be the first of several. In this article and the following parts, I will tell you about the end of my pregnancy, my babies' arrival, their NICU stay, and my recovery. Oh, the memories!

Finding out that I was pregnant with triplets

For those who don't know, I found out in February of 2019 that we were expecting twins. Fast forward to March when we went in for our second ultrasound, and they found another baby - yes, triplets!!! They were a total shock and very unexpected as multiples don't run in either mine or my husband's families. The pregnancy came after a miscarriage, so it was a blessing, but far from easy. Having a higher-order multiple pregnancy and identical babies that shared a placenta meant I was at high-risk. I had to be seen by a maternal-fetal medicine doctor often.

My pregnancy and going into preterm labor

Overall the pregnancy went well, and it was indeed a miracle to see three healthy babies grow in my womb. I was remarkably uncomfortable most of the time, but knowing they were all doing well kept me going. At 28 weeks, I unexpectedly went into preterm labor, and they admitted me into the hospital for 4 days. Thankfully, with a magnesium drip, fluids, and steroid shots, they were able to stop the labor, and I got to go home on full bed rest.

Pain and discomfort during the last weeks of pregnancy

As I have had MS for over half of my lifetime, I am used to pain and discomfort. However, I can confidently say nothing was more painful or uncomfortable than those last few weeks pregnant with triplets! My body was quickly running out of room, and I had to have help to get up off of the couch alone. It hurt to walk and move. Ironically, those are all things common in MS, but thankfully not something I have had to deal with often. My doctors felt confident I would carry the babies to 36 weeks, but my body was beginning to feel like it was falling apart. I knew that these babies weren't going to stay put much longer.

Rushed in for an emergency C-section

At 31 weeks, six days, on August 24th, 2019 (exactly ten days after our son turned 5), my water broke for Baby A, who was lying the lowest. We had been so confident that I wasn't going to go into labor anytime soon that my husband had taken our oldest to the lake just an hour before it happened. Praise the Lord, my mom was in town helping me, and she was able to rush me to the hospital. I laugh to this day thinking back on that car ride because I have never in my life seen my mom drive so fast! Once we arrived at the hospital, I was checked and rushed in for an emergency C-section. I was already almost fully dilated. To this day, I am grateful I did not have those babies in the car.

Check out Part 2 to read about the birth of the triplets and their NICU stay.