AS Katie Powell cuddles her triplet daughters she knows the battle the trio went through to be here.
The girls were born by caesarian after Katie developed a liver condition that was turning her blood acidic.
The triplets arrived into the world in July this year, Willow, weighing 3Ib3, Ivy, at 3Ib4, and Hazel at 3Ib7.
Katie, 31, who lives with partner Nathan, 41, an electrician, in Skipton, North Yorks, said: “Babies can’t cope with acidic blood, but luckily they managed to get them out in time.
“We had 48 hours to deliver them, otherwise they may not all have made it. So we do feel very lucky that they are all here safe and well with us to celebrate Christmas together as a family.”
The couple were shocked when they discovered Katie had fallen pregnant with naturally conceived triplets earlier this year.
She said: “My mum is a twin herself, so we knew that there was a chance it was going to be twins. And a private scan at seven weeks showed us there were two in there.”
But at the 12 week scan, the couple, who also have son Teddy, two, weren’t prepared for a bit of extra news…there was a third baby in there too.
Katie said: “We had told the sonographer that she wouldn’t be able to shock us as we already knew I was pregnant with twins. She looked at the screen and said to us ‘Well I think I can’ and told us it was actually triplets.”
Katie had a difficult pregnancy as she says there was very little information and support available for parents of triplets.
She said: “I felt very alone and isolated through my pregnancy which was very difficult when you are carrying three babies. I was passed from one medical professional to another and I want other triplet mums to feel more heard and not so alone as I felt.
“The maternity care pathway was almost non existent, and I had expected better medical care than this. Triplet mums need to be heard more and supported more, as its a very lonely and scary place to be.”
When Katie was 31 weeks pregnant, she went to the St James’s Hospital in Leeds for a check up and a passing consultant noticed that she didn’t look well.
Katie said: “It just so happened that a doctor I’d seen before was passing and noticed that I didn’t look well, compared to when she’d last seen me a couple of weeks before.
“The doctors who had seen me first, had thought I was just dehydrated and was about to send me home, but after that they carried out blood tests and it showed that I had a raised enzyme level in my liver.
“That consultant spotting me looking unwell saved my life and those of the babies too.”
Katie’s liver was struggling, and was turning her blood acidic, which could have been dangerous to the babies.
Katie said: “The consultant said to me that we needed to get them out in the next 48 hours, and I was taken off to yet another different hospital for the caesarian to get them out.”
Luckily the trio were delivered safely, and were able to meet their big brother.
Katie added: “Teddy absolutely adores them all, which is lovely to see. They were allowed home after five weeks, although Ivy had to go back in for a blood transfusion six weeks ago due to anaemia and they are still suffering from hypercalcemia, which is where their bodies are producing too much calcium.
“But apart from that they are doing really well now, and they are three little miracles. It’s the best Christmas present we could have asked for this year, the strength of them all is unbelievable.”
