Bethany Harris, 22, was young, free and single, when she revealed she was pregnant with triplets. She lives in Milton Keynes with children, Hope, Athena and CJ, who were born in December 2021. Single, she works as a restaurant manager. Here is her story…“I never intended to have children. My nieces and nephews have had enough for me so when I got pregnant out of an accident with my partner Craig it was a real shock. I am 22 years old, we have known each other for a short time and have no intention of getting married.
I did a separate scan over several weeks and the sonographer found two babies. While I was getting over the shock of expecting twins, she found a third baby hiding! I feel like my heart stopped beating. I can’t believe it. I didn’t bring anyone with me for the scan so I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it. I texted my mum: ‘It’s daddy!’ and she thinks I’m lying. Even when I showed her the scans, she still couldn’t believe it. In fact, everyone I talk to needs to say it at least twice. Ever since I found out that Craig’s family has a set of twins!.
It was too much of a shock for Craig. We never spoke to each other and although we tried to stay in the relationship during those first weeks, we realized we didn’t want to be together. We knew we would end up resenting each other, so we decided together that, although we would raise our children together, it would be better if we weren’t a couple and would be apart. together. At first, the thought of triplets completely disheartened me but as the pregnancy progressed I switched to: ‘You’re going to have to face this’ mode. reducing the risk of duplication, I can’t face that decision. There’s no question that I wouldn’t try to treat all three bundles as the best chance at life.
I was lucky because I had a really easy pregnancy. Both girls were in the same bag, which made it more dangerous, but I had an ultrasound every two weeks and all was well. I ended up being hospitalized at 26 weeks, just because Hope was lying awkwardly on the steps, but I was fine. I scheduled a cesarean section at 34 weeks and two days, and after the birth I had to have a blood transfusion because of my low iron levels. But the babies were fine and all were born within four minutes of each other – Athena was the first born 4lbs 4oz, then Hope 4lbs 5oz and finally Craig-junior (CJ) weighed 4lbs 3oz.
The girls were given oxygen for the first day and CJ ended up in intensive care for a week because his lungs were struggling and he had jaundice. But they were discharged and went home within three weeks.
I am one of the lucky ones because I find life with three triplets amazingly easy. Maybe it’s my age but I’m pretty comfortable with it plus I have a lot of support around me. Even the doctors couldn’t believe how chilled I felt when I got home. For the first month and a half, I put them on around 8pm, then they would wake up at 11pm and 3am to feed but I didn’t find it difficult to get back to sleep. At first, I put it all on the criminal because they didn’t like being apart, but then the girls started tossing and turning in their sleep so I took them all apart.
In fact, they are very deep sleepers, going to bed around 8pm and waking up around 6am. Although I was breastfeeding for the first few weeks, it was too difficult for all three so I switched to breastfeeding, breastfeeding continuously for four hours. CJ will be very upset if he doesn’t serve his food after three and a half hours, but we will try to stick to the same schedule if possible. I have a special pillow that holds each vase that helps me feed all three kids at once so it’s a lifesaver.
Hanging out with triplets is usually tough and we haven’t joined any baby groups yet. At first i had a three person stroller but it was only 5ft 5 inch long i got lost behind it so now i have a double stroller with another car seat clipped to it still working fine . I have received a lot of help. My brother, sister and their families were just 10 minutes away and my dad was on the corner across from them. I mum, stepbrother and other sisters often stay in Surrey but visit. Craig is also not far away and is available to help at all times. He doesn’t have enough equipment or beds in place to transport others but he will. He is a real father.
