Silje Andersen-Cooke was filled with anticipation as she and her partner Jordan walked into the dating scan for their second pregnancy. Having already experienced parenthood with their 18-month-old son Mads, they felt confident about what was to come. Little did they know that they were in for a surprise. As they received the news, they were left in utter disbelief – not one, not two, but three tiny heartbeats were detected. As lawyers, Silje and Jordan were accustomed to handling challenging situations, but nothing could have prepared them for the joy and challenges of expecting triplets.
Silje Andersen-Cooke and her partner Jordan were excited to give their son a sibling, but their second pregnancy took an unexpected turn. During a routine ultrasound, Silje received the most amazing surprise of her life – she was carrying not one, not two, but three babies. Although initially anxious and bombarding her midwife with questions to ensure the safety of her unborn children, Silje eventually felt overwhelming happiness at the prospect of having three new additions to her family.
However, the pregnancy was far from easy. Silje experienced more pain than her first pregnancy and was constantly worried about the survival of her babies. At 30 weeks, she was bedridden for four weeks until the scheduled delivery. Despite the challenges, the joy of having three healthy babies made all the difficulties worthwhile for Silje and Jordan.
Silje had to finish work at 30 weeks into her pregnancy and rest as much as possible due to the risk of premature labor. With a toddler to take care of, this wasn’t an easy task. She had fortnightly appointments and scans with the multiples clinic to monitor the growth of her babies, but even with everything going well, Silje knew that she could go into labor at any moment. The decision on when to deliver the babies also depended on how Silje was coping physically, as carrying triplets was uncomfortable and took a toll on her body.
After a challenging pregnancy, Silje gave birth to her three babies via caesarean section. The delivery went smoothly, with each triplet born two minutes apart. The first to arrive was Ada, weighing 1.8 kg, followed by Teddy at 2.1 kg and finally Erik, born at 2.3 kg. Initially, the newborns had to stay in incubators, and one of them had to undergo an operation. Thankfully, everything went well, and the family is now finally reunited at home. Silje reflected, “While it was a tough journey, it was all worth it! The new additions to our family have brought us immeasurable happiness.”
After Silje was deemed to be recovering well from the surgery, she and Mads were discharged from the hospital. However, their newborns had to spend 19 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). During this time, the couple split their time between caring for Mads and visiting their babies, while Silje pumped milk to supply for their nutritional needs. They stayed with Silje’s parents during this period.
After being discharged from the hospital, Jordan and Silje entered a “survival mode”, sticking to a strict three-hourly feeding schedule during the day. Silje tandem breastfed two babies while Jordan fed the third with expressed milk from a bottle. They tried to stretch out the night feeds and resettled each baby as they woke up. The next day, they repeated the process while also taking care of their busy toddler.
Although Silje loved breastfeeding, it was physically demanding and tiring. Her milk supply wasn’t enough in the afternoons, so they had to do a lot of top-ups. They started weaning the babies at four months to make things easier. Silje was grateful for the support of her family and friends, who helped with food or entertained their toddler. She said that having established help was essential for keeping her mental health intact. The experience was relentless, and although she wouldn’t change it, more help would have been amazing.