- Belle Polangco was in for a shock when she fell pregnant with surprise identical triplets
- A high-risk pregnancy, Belle’s girls were born at 28 weeks and four days
- Belle and her husband Peter get through 126 bottle feeds and 161 nappy changes in a week
Here Belle tells her story in her own words.
Holding up a pastel baby onesie, I smiled. ‘I’ll take three please,’ I told the sales assistant.
It was March 2022, and I was 18 weeks pregnant with not one, but three baby girls.
I hadn’t been prepared for three separate heartbeats during my first ultrasound two months earlier.
‘Are you sure?’ I’d asked in disbelief.
‘I’ve always wanted a big family,’ my fiancé Peter, then 57, grinned, putting my nerves at ease.
When I was nine weeks along in January, Peter had got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Of course I said yes!
We’d matched on an online dating site in July 2018.
With Peter living in Sydney and me in Hong Kong at the time, we began talking every day.
And after travelling to meet him two months later, I quickly fell in love with Peter’s kindness, patience and warm smile.
We knew immediately that we wanted to be together, and started a long-distance relationship.
Finally, in November 2021, I relocated to Port Kembla, NSW, and before long I fell pregnant.
Deemed a high-risk pregnancy, I had fortnightly ultrasounds to monitor our bubs’ development.
But by 16 weeks I struggled to bear the weight of my growing bump, so used a walking stick to help ease the pain on my feet, legs, back and belly.
Soon I couldn’t stand or sit comfortably, woke through the night – unable to breathe from the pressure of the bubs – and needed Peter to help me to and from the bathroom.
I felt a stabbing pain in my lower belly
At five months along we learned I was carrying three identical girls when the sonographer saw them cuddled up in the same sac.
Tying the knot in April 2022, when I was 22 weeks, we said ‘I do’ in front of 100 of our nearest and dearest.
At 28 weeks and four days, I felt a stabbing pain in my lower belly.
Having a hard time breathing, I was rushed to Wollongong Hospital in an ambulance before being transferred to the Royal Women’s Hospital in Sydney.
There, tests confirmed I was suffering from extreme pre-eclampsia – a dangerous pregnancy condition that causes high blood pressure and can put both mother and babies’ lives in danger if left untreated.
Terrifyingly, I was going into kidney failure.
After doctors managed to stabilise me, there was more unnerving news.
‘We have to get the babies out to save your life,’ we were told.
We were nervous about them being born so soon, but had no other choice.
‘Welcome to the world, little ones,’ I said
Peter held my hand as I was taken in for my caesarean and placed under general anaesthetic.
When I came to, Peter wheeled me to meet our daughters in the NICU. Isabella had been born first, weighing 1.4 kilos. Ariana came next, followed by Maria-Alexa, both 1.1 kilos.
Our tiny tots looked so similar, but there were a few differences to help tell them apart.
Isabella had a small haemangioma – a benign tumour composed of blood vessels on her chest, while Maria-Alexa had a small red birthmark on her leg and neck.
‘Welcome to the world, little ones,’ I said.
The girls remained in the NICU while their lungs properly developed, and Peter and I moved into a hotel nearby.
Around three weeks later, I was getting ready for bed when I felt a rush of warm sticky liquid between my legs. Moments later, I collapsed in the bathroom.
I was rushed into emergency surgery where it was discovered 20cm of my placenta had been left inside my uterus after the birth.
Thankfully the op was a success, and I spent 15 days recovering in hospital.
Finally, in August 2022, our girls were discharged.
It took some time to settle into our routine of endless feeds, nappy changes and laundry, but seeing the girls’ sweet smiles made sleepless nights worth it.
Each morning I’d pick out their outfits – purple for Isabella, green for Ariana and pink for Maria-Alexa.
In one week we’d go through 126 bottles of formula and 161 nappies.
‘We’re like a baby warehouse,’ Peter joked.
Now three, our triplets have come so far since their rocky start to life.
Isabella is our girly girl, who likes to strut around the house.
Ariana is the ‘mum’ and loves to boss them around. Maria-Alexa is the smallest but toughest – our Miss Independent with a smile that brightens our day.
‘We love you Mama,’ they say each morning when I drop them off at day care.
An inseparable trio, the girls are great at sharing, love to dance and paint.
I feel like the luckiest mum each Mother’s Day – the girls bring me breakfast in bed and Peter gifts me a beautiful bunch of flowers.
While there are times we feel outnumbered, Peter and I are blessed to have three times the love!
