The Most Helpful Resources According to Me!

I quickly found out that there are very few helpful resources out there for mothers who are pregnant with multiples and even for those same mother’s after delivery. Locally, the multiples support groups are pretty much dissolved due to lack of interest.

I scoured the web looking for contact information on anything in my area and came up with only dead-ends save for the one lady who was kind enough to at least let me know that the chapter she had headed had been dissolved due to lack of membership interest.

I did run across several television programs on the Discovery Channel that were very helpful. I had quickly realized through my research online that no two multiples pregnancies are alike, hence the lack of consistent information. I did find that watching these programs about other women experiencing complications of every imaginable combination did help me learn what to watch for with my own body. Ironically, I never did run across one show or website account that came even close to my own experience with my pregnancy and my triplet’s birth.

I had been one of those mother’s who had planned on working until I was physically unable to work anymore, however being pregnant with multiples resulted in my body appearing near full-term pregnant by the time I was required by my physician to take my leave at five months due to mandatory bed rest orders. This meant that I felt as if I was almost full term as well!

I did learn a valuable lesson when it came time to take my maternity leave from my job of nearly six years. It would appear that very few employers understand anything surrounding leave taking or even have any type of policies in place involving multiple/extremely high-risk pregnancies. They weren’t prepared for me to have to limit my physical activity so very soon nor were they prepared for me to have to wear my maternity clothing as earlier than most expectant mothers. You need to be very careful and document everything when initiating your maternity leave because of this!

While on bed rest, I found several websites that had some helpful information. One is for "Preemie Magazine" http://www.preemiemagazine.com/ which provides information for anyone who is having or has a preemie. It has information on what to expect during your NICU stay and how to manage your child’s healthcare and be your child’s advocate while in the hospital. It also has a forum where preemie issues are discussed and people can talk about what they have gone through and get support and information not normally discussed elsewhere as most people find the subject matter taboo.

Another invaluable site for mothers having or who have had multiples is "The Triplet Connection" http://www.tripletconnection.org/. This site of course is primarily for people with triplets but also allocates for twins as well as higher order multiples. Here I found all sorts of helpful things on life with my multiples and I was able to plan everything based on the advice of people who had been where I was and were where I was headed! You can also meet people who are selling triplet equipment which isn’t something that can be bought at the corner store! I found it a wonderful starting place for me and I still refer to it and browse their forum every so often.

Of course, your doctor will be able to give you some information, however they won’t be able to give you advice on feeding or clothing or even differentiating between your multiples! All you can really do is read as much as you can and talk to as many moms like you as you can find and try to be creative!

I have to say, even with all of these resources, nothing could have prepared me for what happened after I checked into the labor and delivery unit at my hospital. But the information and research did help me stay focused on my goals which was recovering from my delivery as fast and as best as I could so that I could work towards getting my children home and starting our new life together as a family!