So here we are at 25 weeks pregnant, YAY! We have passed that important 24 week milestone and our consultant Jeremy confirmed that the babies would now be “viable”(!). At our 24 week scan it showed that the babies were all the same size and growing at the rate of a normal baby in a singleton pregnancy. He said if they carried on at this rate then they could be nearly 5lbs each at 33 weeks! We were obviously thrilled by this news, but one of the thoughts going through my head was:”15lb of baby! How on earth are they going to fit in me?” I’m normally a size 10 and I already feel like I’ve been stretched to my limit – sometimes I feel like I might burst when the triplets practice their drumming techniques on my ribs/bladder/stomach!

I’m still feeling pretty good, but I am starting to feel my body slowing down. I tire very easily and have been struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome in my arm. My midwife has been really good and referred me to a physio to help manage the pain in my arm and teach me techniques to cope with the weight of the babies as they get bigger.

Jeremy told me that I needed to start to ‘slow down’. I was still working full time and also trying to get everything sorted for the triplets’ arrival. He suggested that I could be admitted to hospital for three weeks bed rest, but feeling happy and healthy I said that this really wasn’t an option…I can’t think of anything worse than being laid up in hospital, eating hospital food and being bored out of my brains for three weeks- especially when there is so much to be done. He settled for partial bed rest instead and told my partner John to make sure I stuck to it. Thankfully, work have been fantastic and have sorted my maternity cover well in advance and have allowed me to work from home until I can officially go on maternity leave on 11th November.

We now have a rough due date of 12th December when the babies will be 33 weeks and proper little chunky chappies by the sound of it! We’re so excited that they will be here for Christmas, but it will be a bit strange not having them home straight away. Until then we are just going to keep enjoying the weird and wonderful experiences of pregnancy. We’ve been playing them music on the iPod and it would seem that our boys are proper little groovers! We started playing them Vivaldi, but it would appear that they much prefer wriggling around to a bit of Lady Gaga, Pulp and Stone Roses.

Right, so by my reckoning that gives us eight weeks (possibly less if they’re really impatient) to get everything sorted; YIKES! We have cleared out the spare room and John has put together a massive storage unit and the changing table – it is actually starting to look like a proper baby room. When thinking about the triplets sleeping arrangements, we’ve decided that we need to be as flexible as possible. We have got each of them a moses basket, but if we feel that they would rather share a cot, then we will give that a whirl instead.

We have decided on our car too, we loved the Ford C-Max Grand which has seven seats, sliding doors, lots of space for the monster buggy and for three growing boys. Having driven a small three door hatchback for seven years, the thought of driving something this big is a little bit frightening…thank goodness it’s got parking sensors! We actually approached Ford directly and they have very kindly offered us full use of one of their C-Max’s for six months. This is a huge weight off our mind as it’s one less thing to sort out before the boys arrive.

As well as the specialised care that we receive from Addenbrookes, I still have to see my local midwife and GP for regular check-ups. I know that triplets are rare, but I have been really surprised by the lack of information and support that has been provided to us regarding multiples. So much so that I put an information sheet together for my surgery with a list of information sources that I found useful so that they can pass it on to other expectant parents of multiples. It would seem that it is an ever growing issue though and a recent publication by NICE in the British Medical Journal has set out new guidelines for GP’s and midwives in dealing with multiple pregnancies. Hopefully this will mean that the care of women carrying multiples will be much more consistent.

John asked me the other day, “if I could have chosen to just have one baby instead of three, would I?” I thought about it for a second, because if you had asked me 12 weeks ago I think I might have said yes, but now I can’t think of anything better than having triplets. I feel so lucky and the thought of having three identical little boys is just incredible. John felt the same.

I think this whole process has been made so much easier due to the fact that John and I are on the same page and we are taking a laid back and flexible approach to dealing with everything. It is not in John’s nature to be organised but, thankfully, it is in mine! Saying that, he is very patient and helpful so if I need something doing, I know it will be done. Being super organised now will allow us to concentrate on the babies and the chaos that will inevitably ensue when they arrive. John has also been working really hard and taken on extra freelance work as a graphic designer, which is a huge weight off my mind when it comes to paying for the day to day expenses that comes with three babies.

Experiences like this make us realise how many great people we have around us from friends and family, to people that don’t even know us. We have been given so many clothes and toys and it really has saved us a fortune. John continues to be my rock. I get worried about the boys health and how they will cope being born at least seven weeks early, but I know that whatever this experience throws at us we will have the support of one another.