Pregnant with identical triplets, Lindsey Teten considered every week that passed in the spring of 2017 a reason for celebration.
Every week meant her three baby girls were a little bit bigger and stronger. Every ultrasound and doctor’s appointment brought the triplets one step closer to being born healthy despite a high-risk pregnancy.
Lindsey recounted the story: “We were ready to have our first kid, and we started trying. After six or nine months, we started to get a little nervous. It was like, “Uh, is this ever going to happen?’ We found out in early December that we were pregnant. And you know, we were super excited. I just expected a normal pregnancy.”
Then came the first ultrasound at around eight weeks. The technician found one baby, then another. She asked Lindsey to empty her bladder before continuing the scan. When she returned, the surprise grew even bigger.
“She said, ‘You’re pregnant with three babies, and I think they’re identical,’” Lindsey said. “Neither of us knew what that meant, and all I kept thinking was, ‘I need to see my doctor.’ And, ‘How did this happen?’”
Lindsey and Derek were thrilled but shocked, and rightfully so. The odds of such a pregnancy – identical triplets conceived naturally – are about one in a million.
Lindsey began experiencing preterm labor issues around 27 weeks. Her blood pressure became a concern around 30 weeks. The end of her pregnancy – and the beginning of parenthood – was near. The day after Father’s Day, the Tetens headed to the Women’s Hospital campus for the last time as a pregnant couple. They talked with the NICU staff about the babies’ possible challenges with breathing and feeding. But with the end in sight, Lindsey and Derek had a sense of calm.
“They Just made Us Feel So Comfortable”
On Friday, June 23, Dr. Connealy and maternal-fetal specialist Todd Lovgren, MD, delivered the girls by cesarean section. First came Juliet at 4 pounds and 16 ½ inches. Next was Marian at 3 pounds, 15 ounces and 16 ¼ inches. Adeline rounded out the trio at 3 pounds, 4 ounces and 16 ¼ inches.
The girls were quickly taken away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), but not before Lindsey was able to kiss one of them on the forehead.
The girls spent three weeks in the NICU, learning to eat, gaining weight and growing strong enough to travel in car seats.
Four weeks after their birth, the girls were all home, and the family was ready for the challenges and special moments that awaited them.
Taking on Challenges Together
The girls turned 3 last week – just days after the Methodist Women’s Hospital 10th anniversary – and they’re doing all the things 3-year-olds do.
In some ways, she said, not much has changed since the girls’ earliest days.
“It’s funny. We look back on when they were born, and even that first month in the NICU, Juliet was the sweet one. She always gave off a very sweet demeanor. And that’s still here. She’s definitely the peacemaker of the crew. She sits back and watches the other two get into things and get into trouble.
“Adeline, even inside of me, she was the one who gave us a couple little scares. She was our smallest, and we always kind of rallied behind her a little more. She’s just a wild little girl. No fear. Super adventurous. Willing to do whatever her sisters tell her to do.”
