Jess Hardiman
A woman expecting triplets found she measured 60 weeks pregnant – yes, 60 WEEKS – before giving birth.
It’s inevitable that a woman’s body changes throughout pregnancy as things move about and open up to make way for a baby.
But one woman in Canberra, Australia, found hers went above and beyond to accommodate her triplets as they grew inside her womb.
Silje Anderson-Cooke, who was already mum to a toddler, found herself in total shock when she found out she was having not one but three more babies.
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The ultrasound technician broke the news to Silje and partner Jordan when they started counting the foetuses.
“We were in complete shock,” Silje told 7Life.
“I was discombobulated.”
It turned out Silje was carrying ‘spontaneous triplets’, which means the three kids were conceived naturally – a one-in-10,000 phenomenon.
“I began to spiral,” she continued.
“I was anxious and I didn’t know if my body could physically carry triplets.”
With 18-month-old Mads at home, her family of three would suddenly grow to six overnight, which left her feeling stressed – not least because they lived in a two-bedroom home and drove a five-seater car, neither of which had the space they needed.
“It was overwhelming getting three of everything,” Silje explains.
“You can’t just walk into Baby Kingdom and buy a suitable pram for example.”
Thankfully, they managed to get what they needed, though had to buy a pricey three-seater pram from overseas for AUD $4,000.
As a high risk pregnancy, Silje was regularly monitored as she prepared to give birth, and had to stop working at 30 weeks.
Four weeks later, doctors told her her stomach was measuring at 60 weeks gestation.
And five days after that, they decided it was time to deliver the babies, and Silje went in for a C-section.
A midwife, three pediatricians, two doctors and anaesthetists teamed up with a student nurse to bring the babies into the world, with the infants born two minutes apart from one another.
Ava arrived first, weighing 1.8kg, followed by 2.1kg Teddy and 2.3kg Erik.
While Teddy and Erik had to have a brief stint in the NICU for help with their breathing, eventually Silje was reunited.
“I was so relieved,” she said.
“It had been such a hard pregnancy, and to be there and snuggle all of them, and for them to be so healthy...”
Fortunately, it looks like Silje has been a total natural with her brood of four kids - with those triplets now one-and-a-half years old regularly posting updates on Instagram.