Triple the Surprise

Life has recently surprised us in an extremely large way. You might have read about some of the shock I was feeling in one of my latest articles, When Life Hands You Lemons.

Trying to conceive our second child

Here is a little bit of that story. We had been trying to conceive our second child since last April. It wasn’t going as quickly as we had hoped, but we found out we were expecting in January. Unfortunately, that pregnancy did not last. After our miscarriage in January, we found out that we were expecting again in February. Soon thereafter, we went to our first OB appointment and were surprised to learn that we were not just expecting one baby, but that we were going to have twins! Fast forward to our second OB appointment in March, and I kid you not, we find out there are three! We were just wrapping our heads around the idea of having twins and jumping from one to three children to learning we would actually be having triplets, and would now jump from one to four! It was the shock of a lifetime and so unexpected. You want to talk about being blindsided by life - whew!

Pregnant with triplets!

Our triplets are spontaneous, meaning we conceived them naturally. We have never done any sort of fertility treatments, so to learn three babies were growing in my womb without any help was crazy! I mean, just learning that I was pregnant with triplets was plain crazy in itself! It’s been about a month now since we found out our big news. We are growing more excited and less scared every day, but we are still trying to process this new adventure life has given us. I’m starting to wonder if it's ever going to feel real, but I know it will have to when three screaming babies are placed in my arms!

Unexpected and shocking news

This has been, by far, the most shocking life news I’ve received since finding out about my MS diagnosis over a decade ago. It is not bad news, but it feels just as scary and foreign as my MS diagnosis did. But, in a weird way, I’m thankful for that experience because it has helped me better cope with this news. At the time when we found out, I had no idea what to think. Again, it wasn’t bad news, but it was so very crazy that it would happen to me. The girl with MS having triplets, who knew?! When you do fertility treatments there is always a chance for multiples, but since ours occurred naturally, it was not expected in the slightest.

How will my body handle all of this?

I won’t lie to you: I’m beyond terrified and nervous about this life change. I’m excited, too, though. So many emotions! While my fears come from many directions, my biggest fear is having multiples with MS. I am scared of what it will be like to have three babies at once, as well as what it will be like to have four children. I’m scared of how my body will handle all of this. I know the challenges having one child while living with MS can create - will I be equipped to handle four? I feel like while I am very anxious and worried about the MS side of things, I also know I am more than able to handle big life challenges because I’ve had to deal with MS.

MS prepared me for this challenge

I know our life is drastically changing, and I know it’s going to be difficult. We will have to make many adjustments. But I can’t help but be excited that I was chosen for this task for whatever reason. I’m telling you, all of this has been the biggest rollercoaster of emotions. I think I’ve felt every one possible. Would I have ever picked this? No, we just wanted one more child. However, God had other plans. Even though I know the difficulties and the worries that lie ahead, I can’t help but be thankful that I have already had other life challenges prepare me for this in their own way.

Ready to face this next step head-on

MS is so confusing because while I believe it has helped prepare me for this challenge, as I mentioned earlier I am also scared of the challenges it will create. What I’ve learned even more in this process though is I can’t live in fear of what's to come. It’s something I’ve said many times in my MS journey, and it’s something I need to cling to now. These triplets were given to me, just as MS was, and I am ready to face these things head-on. As we all know, stress is terrible on MS, as well as pregnancy, so no matter what’s in front of me, I am just trying to keep the many stressors at bay. Just like with MS, I have to take things one day at a time. More updates on my MS and our triplet pregnancy to come! As blind-sided as we have been, these little babies are already so loved!

XOXO,

Calie