When Silje Andersen-Cooke walked into the dating scan for her second ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, she never could have imagined what was about to unfold.
The lawyer and her partner Jordan, already parents to son Mads, then 18 months, were feeling confident about this ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. Thinking that, second-time-around, they knew what to expect. Except, that is, being told there was not one, not two, but three tiny ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙᴇᴀᴛs.
The couple intended to give their son a sibling, but Silje Andersen-second Cooke’s ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ didn’t go as planned. She had the most amazing surprise of her life waiting for her in the sᴏɴᴏɢʀᴀᴍ, she added. The young mother: “My ɢʏɴᴇᴄᴏʟᴏɢɪsᴛ revealed to me that I’m expecting not one, not two, but three babies which, a few months later, made me the happiest woman in the world. At first I was anxious and started ʙᴏᴍʙᴀʀᴅɪɴɢ the ᴍɪᴅᴡɪꜰᴇ with questions so that the ꜰᴇᴛᴜsᴇs would not be in ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀ. The ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ was not easy. I was in more ᴘᴀɪɴ than the first time, and I was constantly worried about whether my babies would sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ. At 30 weeks I stopped working and was ʙᴇᴅʀɪᴅᴅᴇɴ for 4 weeks, until the scheduled ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀʏ.”
At 30 weeks Silje finished up work and, due to the ʀɪsᴋ of premature ʟᴀʙᴏᴜʀ, tried to rest as much as possible with a toddler in tow. Fortnightly appointments and sᴄᴀɴs with the ᴍᴜʟᴛɪᴘʟᴇs clinic ensured the babies growth remained on track, but even with things going well Silje knew she may have to deliver at any point. Due to the discomfort of a triplets ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, the decision also had to be based on how Silje was coping physically.
Finally, the three siblings were born by ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. The ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀʏ went smoothly, with each triplet born two minutes apart. Our triplets were born two minutes apart. First there was Ada who weighed 1.8 kg, then Teddy who was 2.1 kg and lastly Erik who was born 2.3 kg. She said: “The first days they stayed in an ɪɴᴄᴜʙᴀᴛᴏʀ, while our little one had to have an ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. Fortunately, everything went well and we are finally all together at home. It may have been a tough adventure, but it was worth every moment! The new members of our family completed our happiness.”
After a few days in hospital, once Silje was deemed to be ʀᴇᴄᴏᴠᴇʀɪɴɢ well from the sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ, the couple were discharged, however the babies spent 19 days in the N.I.C.U. Staying with Silje’s parents, the pair split their time between Mads and visiting the babies, all while Silje pumped to supply their milk.
Once home, Jordan and Silje entered ‘sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ mode’, working to a three-hourly feed schedulethrough the day – Silje tandem ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛꜰᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ two and Jordan feeing the third a bottle of ᴇxᴘʀᴇssᴇᴅ ᴍɪʟᴋ, and trying to stretch their night feeds, resettling each as they woke. Then waking the next day to do it all over, while juggling a busy toddler. Silje said: “I loved ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛꜰᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ , but it was very ᴘʜʏsɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴅᴇᴍᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ and it got very tiring and my milk supply was not going up in the afternoons, so there were lots of top-ups, it got so hard, so we began weaning them at four months.” Silje has had help from a ‘city’ worth of family and friends to drop off food or entertain Mads. She said: “Having the help that we established was the only reason I could just keep my mental health together, really. It’s just so relentless. I wouldn’t change it, but more help would have been amazing.”
