The doctor had advised Alexia, pregnant with triplets, to have an embryo reduction, explaining to her the risks associated with her pregnancy. Which she refused. Today, her children born very prematurely (Nya, Aaron and Zélie), are 5 years old. She testifies.
After an uphill battle to get pregnant, Alexia learns that she is expecting triplets. This is surprising news that she welcomed with great joy. Right away, the doctor explained to the couple the risks of a triplet pregnancy and advised them to have an embryo reduction. “He explained to us that I could lose one or two embryos and that it would be a medical blessing. But for my husband and I, it was clear, there was no way we were going to eliminate one of our future children. So, we kept the three” she continues. D
A pregnancy with triplets requires very close medical monitoring, with an ultrasound scan every two weeks. But overall, Alexia had a great pregnancy. “In total, I only had two false alarms that led me to go to the hospital. At 5 and a half months pregnant, the obstetrician did a follow-up ultrasound during which he checked the weight of my babies. They all weighed more than 500 grams, which was very reassuring, but my cervix was not satisfactory.”
The doctor then forbade her to return home and gave her injections to promote the maturity of her lungs.I live near Toulon, I was transferred the same evening to the Conception hospital in Marseille where I was told that if I gave birth now, no one would be resuscitated” she remembers. In fact, resuscitation is only possible if the baby weighs 500 grams and the mother is 24 weeks pregnant.I was 23 weeks + 3 days pregnant. I only needed 5 days to resuscitate my babies. In the end, I lasted two weeks, I gave birth at 25 weeks + 3 days.“.
Even though Alexia had three amniotic sacks and three placentas, she always knew she would have a caesarean section. Vaginal delivery is extremely rare in a multiple pregnancy. However, the obstetrician suggested delivering her first baby vaginally until he realized that the baby had turned breech.At that moment, I heard him yell code red! I had to deliver all of my babies. Fortunately, my triplets were born healthy. They stayed in intensive care for a month and a half, before moving to intensive care and finally to neonatology. Three and a half months after their birth, I was able to go home with Aaron and Zélie but Nya had to stay a few more weeks.”
Extreme prematurity requires very close medical monitoring.I wanted to go back to work, but I was quickly made to understand that it would not be possible, because the medical appointments took up a lot of my time. My military partner left on a mission shortly after, I managed the triplets all by myself. I breastfed them for nine months and I cooked everything at home. The medical appointments became less frequent over time. Until the end of the first year of life, visits were very limited given the fragility of the triplets. Then, everything went back to normal, we did lots of things with them and we acted as if we only had one, it was very natural”. Today, Nya, Aaron and Zélie are 5 years old and go to school and everyone is doing wonderfully.