This is Emily’s story. Beautiful mother of one, wife, entrepreneur, photographer, blogger, and pregnant with triplets. We asked her to share some of her experiences to shed some light on a multiple pregnancy! xx Sabina & Valerie
I live in Melbourne, Australia with my husband (of six years) Rob, our almost 2 year-old son Xavier (aka Zee!) and our fur baby River (the Golden Retriever)! It’s about to get a little crazy in our house! Our family is about to double in size when our triplets arrive in a few weeks. They’re due in early June at around 34 – 35 weeks, which is considered “full-term” for triplets.
Before having Zee, I was a National Marketing Manager and worked ridiculous hours! I knew as soon as I got pregnant that I couldn’t return to doing what I was doing as I didn’t want to have a baby just to put them into full time care. So, I wanted to start a business where I could work hard in my own time, and not be dictated to working 9 – 5 hours.
I started my business – Sourcey Marketing – when I was about 30 weeks pregnant with Zee. I’d worked in Publishing, Advertising and Marketing for about 12 years before I got pregnant, and I haven’t looked back. Running my own business gives me flexibility, a creative outlet and financial security that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Besides, I love working and being busy, so even though it’s been hard work and felt impossible at times, I’ve loved every crazy minute. Running my own business also gives me flexibility to do the things I’m really passionate about and pick up things that I had left behind – particularly writing and photography.
(Emily wears her BLANQI high performance maternity belly lift & support leggings and maternity belly support tank)
After finding out we were having triplets, I also started a blog. Zee Plus Three – is about all the things I love… Family, Health & Fitness, Fashion, Food, Design, Photography and Business. I originally started the blog to share with family and friends about our journey, but its quickly spread beyond that. I’ve loved meeting other amazing mums of multiples and successful mums running their own businesses through social media and I cant wait to see where it takes me.
Q: On receiving news you were pregnant with triplets…
Honestly, when I first heard the news, all I could do was cry, which is totally unlike me. I think it was just so overwhelming I just didn’t know how else to react. I was lucky that Rob had come with me to the appointment. We actually went in for an early scan as I thought something may have gone wrong with the pregnancy, so Rob came, just in case we were going to receive bad news. Walking in with the thought of loosing one baby and walking out with the knowledge that there were actually three hearts beating was just too much to take in. After the initial shock, we have just grown more and more in love with these babies in my belly everyday and cant wait to meet them and watch them grow.
Q: On going from one to four children…
It’s funny, when we were pregnant with Zee, everyone kept telling me that ‘life as I knew it would be over’ and I was ‘never going to sleep again’… but I just didn’t have that experience.
Sure, life changed. Rob and I now spend Friday nights at home making home made pizza now instead of going out partying, but I’m still me, and Rob is still Rob and life has just evolved. And evolved for the better. Every night we sneak in to Zee’s room and kiss him good night and tell him how much we love him. I love reading him books and going out for baby cinos with him and River… I think you’re idea of fun just changes.
Don’t get me wrong, in the beginning the sleep depravation and not being able to understand why he was crying got to me, but I just kept remembering something else people had kept telling me. “They grow up too quick”. And they do. Zee is almost 2 and it feels like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. The crying won’t last forever. The 3 hourly feeds won’t last forever. The sleepless nights won’t last forever. The never-ending cycle of nappies won’t last forever. The needing their mummy 24/7 won’t last forever. And when it does stop, I know I’ll miss it (well parts of it anyway – maybe not the changing nappies part!)
I used to think people who had four or more kids were crazy, but if having four children is four times as amazing as having one, I think we’re going to be the luckiest people in the world.
Q: On life adjustments (work, home, car, travel, etc.)
I’m a big believer in whatever you put out in the universe will come back to you.
You really need to be careful what you wish for in life as it often comes true. As long as I can remember I have thought that I would love to have twins. I had twin cousins growing up and I thought it was so special and amazing to be a twin, and I thought it would be great to bring 2 people into the world that would have a bond like-no-other.
I think subconsciously we must have known that our family was going to get bigger (quite quickly) as when we found out about the triplets, almost everything was already in place. My business is running along smoothly with the help of 2 wonderful women who I can trust and know that they have it covered while I need to take some time off. Our Home is perfectly suited for a family of 6 with enough room for all the craziness and enough distance between the office and the play room! We had bought a 7-seater car 2 years ago with no plans to ever use the back row of seats. I think we’ve been planning for this for a long time without even realizing we were.
There are definitely things that we will have to adjust to, like we wont be moving bayside anytime soon, we certainly wont be heading to Europe next year like we’d planned, the kids may not get to go to the best private schools in the country and I may not get to drive a Range Rover or buy that LV bag and Prada shoes I’ve been lusting after, but hey, we’re pretty damn lucky.
( BLANQI maternity support tank and leggings)
Q; On difference between a triplet and single pregnancy
I think people assume that having triplets would be three times harder than a single pregnancy, and from what I hear I think for a lot of people it can be, sometimes harder.
There are lots of risks involved in having multiples which can cause added stress which multiplies the extra weight and pain caused from carrying more than one baby. I have been one of the extremely lucky ones. I think partly because I’ve been lucky and partly because I haven’t let things stress me out. I haven’t spent time thinking about all the possibilities, I have been focused that the babies would be healthy and born on time.
The amazing bits of carrying three babies… Feeling each baby at different times and getting to know their personalities. I know our girl is quiet and calm but knows how to pack a punch when she needs to. I know our boys are very different; one is very calm and gentle while the other is going to be our little wild child and most likely a professional football player.
The not so amazing bits are definitely the extra weight. I have almost doubled the amount of weight I put on this pregnancy compared with my last. It’s a lot for your body to deal with. It’s uncomfortable from a lot earlier on in the pregnancy.
I think the sleepless nights are the real killer. I really think that anything is manageable if you’ve had a good nights sleep, but no sleep and no coffee really sucks.
Q; On multiple pregnancy specific issues not faced with during previous pregnancy
Any conditions that you’re prone to getting in pregnancy is basically tripled with a multiple pregnancy. Backache, bleeding, constipation, cramps, high blood-pressure and preclamsia, stretch marks, swelling etc is all part of the fun. I was lucky with my first pregnancy, I didn’t have any morning sickness, although I wanted to sleep all day in my first trimester, I really only struggled in the last few weeks when I got really big. This pregnancy I had terrible morning sickness for the first 14 weeks, and ended up in hospital twice due to kidney stones. Who knew you were supposed to double your intake of fluid while pregnant? Aside from that I’ve managed to skip a lot of the conditions (particularly the serious ones) but I’ve felt 40 weeks pregnant for the last month at least. I really can’t wait to get my body back.
Q; On the future
All I can focus on right now is getting these babies here safely, and home from the hospital (together). Once they’re home healthy and happy, I plan on having one hell of a party with my friends and having a glass (or two) of french champagne and eating all the prosciutto and d’afffinois that I can!
