Hello, I'm new. My name is Nikki and we live in VA. I found out last week we are expecting triplets and they will be our 7th, 8th and 9th children.

My older children are 9, 6, 6 (twins), 5, 4 and 18 months and the youngest five were delivered by c-section- so four sections in total, the most recent being 18 months ago.

The first thing my OB said to me, within seconds of showing those three little heartbeats, was "With having so many c-sections, you should reduce. Your uterus isn't strong enough to do this, it will rupture".

Over the last few days I have been thinking about this and just wanted to know if there were any triplet mamas like me who have had many children and especially many c-sections prior to carrying your triplets. And how it went for you. I am tall and have a very long torso and carried my twins to 36 weeks and 6+lbs each so I am not really worried about anything other than the high number of sections. I just need some reassurance.... I am really scared in general and despite being a pretty confident Mom by this point I am truly wondering how I am going to do this.

Thanks so much, I am so glad to find this great forum.

Wow! Congratulations, first of all!

One thing you'll find on here is that no two pregnancies are alike. Some people can be up and walking around until they deliver at 37 weeks and others have to be on bedrest early on, etc, etc...

Have you had any prior problems with your uterus during pregnancy? Just having c-sections alone wouldn't scream EMERGENCY to me, unless you've had weakening and tearing of the uterus in prior pregnancies, but I'm no expert! I would seriously consider seeing a perinatologist before making any major decisions. I continued to see my original OB (I didn't KNOW they even HAD specialists) and he was a moron. He was not equipped to deal with my pregnancy. You'll find that OBs tend to be - generally speaking - more pessimistic than peris. Peris have the expertise to deal with all sorts of crises.

Congrats again, and I also suggest you check around on FB for some of us triplet mommies. The boards and people there post much more frequently, although TC is a really great starting point for research (use the search feature up top).

Loren
GGG Jan.2005 @ 28wks

Sweetened Taters - http://sweetenedtaters.blogspot.com

I think I would immediately get hooked up with a great high risk MFM or Perinatologist and get his or her opinion. I have children 24, 20, 4, 20 month old triplets and am currently pregnant with a singleton. All mine have be sections and I have had an additional uterine surgery as well so this will be my 6th surgery. My MFM says the risk for rupture is the same whether you have had one or 6. I am only 5'3" and I went to 30 weeks with my triplets with a pair of identicals. That is why I delivered so early.

Originally my regular OB said 3 sections was the max for me. I no longer see him and just see my MFM.

Good luck and get as many opinions about your situation.

Lisa T
bbg 30 weeks

I only had 2 C-sections before my triplet pregnancy, but my doctors weren't concerned at all. I had asked my OB after my second if there was any risk with subsequent pregnancies, and she said she wouldn't worry about me at all because I had healed so well and with minimal scar tissue. I carried mine to 34 1/2 weeks with 4.5-5lb babies.

Good luck with your pregnancy,

Rebecca

Laura (6)
Lucas (3)
Aubrie, Emily, & Teresa born 7/5/10 at 34w3d.

Our triplets were my eighth pregnancy and children 8, 9 and 10. Granted, all my singletons were vaginal deliveries, but certainly my uterus had had a workout! I carried my trio to 32 weeks (3 and 4 pound babies), had my first c-section and then went on to carry twins to 37 weeks and had a second c-section twenty seven months later!

At no time in any of my pregnancies did any of my doctors indicate that my uterus could be an issue.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. Hope you're raising as many eyebrows as we do!!

Ellyn and the lucky 13!





img]


img]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the responses- they helped!

I found this article that you might be interested in. It's a little heavy on the statistics, and none of it is specifically for multiples, but you might find it helpful:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/275854-overview

What I got out of it was that the risk of uterine rupture does go up with multiple C-sections, but the risk is still quite small (less than 1%), especially if you have a scheduled C-section without a trial of labor (TOL). Risks go up a lot more for labor/vaginal delivery. It actually matters more what kind of C-section you had. Risks are lowest with low, transverse sections.

Rebecca

Laura (6)
Lucas (3)
Aubrie, Emily, & Teresa born 7/5/10 at 34w3d.

Looks like you got a good number of replies, but I'll chime in here too...

My boys' birthmom carried them as her 6th pregnancy, all 5 previous were singletons delivered by c-section. She had an extremely uneventful pregnancy (carried 32 weeks). I don't know if this enters in as far as cause/effect, but she did have placenta previa during the triplet pregnancy).

I wouldn't reduce (personally).