'People are always staring.' What it's like being a mum to identical triplet girls.

Well, here we are. My identical triplet girls (Shannen, Kaitlin and Courtney) are finally adults, and I am so proud. Life in our family has been a roller coaster from the day we found out we were expecting triplets.

Finding out we were pregnant with triplets.

There were big changes in the year 2000. A bigger car, my boys 10 and 12 yrs had to learn to share a room and my attention. Endless bottles, nappies, clothing, bathing, feeding….it all seemed so overwhelming. So, we formed a production line, and organised a routine that got our girls to adulthood with my sanity still intact. Not to say there weren’t times when I questioned my ability to parent, but I realised I’d been given this amazing task and damn it, I was going to get it right.

Bec Judd shares what it’s like being pregnant with twins:

Teens and broken hearts.

I was dreading these years. Girls on a hormone trip isn’t pleasant, and yes we had some rough moments, but, I kept myself open to their worries, I listened to them and hugged them and cried with them. I kept them as close to me as possible, they needed their Mum, and I was there. Thank goodness I never let them push me away as some teens do to their mums. I hung on, even though my heart was breaking at times. To see your babies go through pain is not easy. It did pay off though, because today we have the closest bond, the deepest love, a mutual respect, and I’m grateful.

Sweet 16 times three.

Three peas in a pod, that’s my girls. They are close, they are best friends, sisters, confidantes. They are growing into beautiful, smart young women right before my eyes. We do so much together, the five of us. Dad is a big part of their lives as well, his princesses, and their big brothers are living their own lives, but visit a lot, and are always there as protectors for their little sisters.

Life is just as busy as when the girls were little. Mum’s taxi, always running them everywhere… school, jobs, to friends. Shopping is always fun with the girls, they value my input on just about everything, even clothes. The highlight is watching people staring and trying to work out if they are seeing triple! It’s funny, we all get a good giggle out of it.

 

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A post shared by Lindy Fien (@mumofidtriplets_tripletreat) on Aug 3, 2019 at 5:27pm PDT

Getting their driver’s license.

My worst nightmare! How on earth was I going to be able to help with this? 300 hours, yes! 300. Well, they’d all got their L’s no problem, so the rule was, you all get enough lessons with a driving instructor to know the basics and then I’ll sit beside you in the car.

This was a challenge, but I love a good challenge. I was pretty scared to start with, but my girls were determined, I think they got that trait from me, and off we went. Surprisingly, between all three girls and nearly 12 months of driving, we made it to 300 hrs, I do think I gained a few extra grey hairs throughout our challenge though! Two years later and with me finally a bit calmer about them being on the roads, they are happily driving themselves.

Being a mum to adult identical triplet girls.

We made it! My beautiful identical triplet girls are adults. They still have a bond like no other. They work together, live together and spend as much time as they can with myself and their dad. What would I change if I had it over again? Absolutely nothing… you know, as a young woman, I’d never in my wildest dreams ever think I’d fall pregnant with triplets, identical at that. I would never have thought I’d cope.

 

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A post shared by Lindy Fien (@mumofidtriplets_tripletreat) on Jun 11, 2019 at 10:57pm PDT

But, here I am, 19 years later, telling you about one of the best things to ever happen in my life. I did have triplets, I did cope, it changed my life for the better. My girls are my life, we have such a close relationship, and if you ever think you couldn’t do it as a mum, think again, we are all capable of doing things we never thought possible. As mums we have this built in coping mechanism, and even on the hardest days, when you think you can’t do it anymore, just stop, breathe, and go and look at your sleeping babies faces… Feel it?

Love and hugs to all you amazing multiple parents. You’ve got this!

This post originally appeared on Twinfo and has been republished with full permission.