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