If you've never had a child before, you might be unaware that the months before the delivery aren't all sunshine and rainbows.
During the nine months of pregnancy, expectant mothers must deal with several side effects, such as morning sickness, increased urination, and swollen feet, just to name a few.
While a woman of average weight will typically gain between 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy, if they're having multiples, they can count the number on the scale increasing even more.
When Maria from Copenhagen, Denmark found out she was carrying triplets - two boys and a girl - during her second pregnancy, she decided to document her journey on Instagram, sharing weekly updates of her baby bump and pictures of her husband Anders, 40, and first born Mikael.
Maria has amassed more than 171,000 followers on the social media site, where the 36-year-old opened up to her audience about her personal life, including her whirlwind relationship with Anders, who she met on the dating app, Tinder.
"We met on Tinder! I had just arrived in Copenhagen (Denmark) to work at the TV show Masterchef for 4 months when we «got a match», and 6 days later we had our first date. I moved in with him 6 months later," Maria wrote.
She added they had welcomed Mikael into the world two years ago and that the triplets were naturally conceived.
Since Maria and Anders were only anticipating to add just one other child to their brood, they admitted to "huge shock" when they were expecting three new bundles of joy - a roughly one in 4,400 chance of happening.
"What a journey this has been! From the huge shock of learning there were three, to people's reactions, the numerous scannings/checks and all the preparations and planning for this life-changing event. Nothing like the ordinary," Maria captioned another photo.
"I'm glad we took these pictures, because this collage really shows the massive growth. It's strange to have ended up with such a big belly and it's even stranger that it can stand out like that without falling down."
However, along with the sweet photos of her growing stomach, Maria also shared how her growing family had to exchange their stylish hybrid SUV for a mini bus, and had to figure out how to incorporate the new extra wide cot, changing table and baby accessories in their 860sq ft apartment.
Maria also dished that while she's received tons of support from her community (and plenty of hand-me-down clothes), she's had to deal with the same side-effects of pregnancy any expectant mother could face, such as stretch marks, and pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP), a pregnancy-related rash that can spread throughout one's body.
Fortunately, she does so with a sense of humor.
"Well, they had to arrive eventually... The stretch marks I mean. What can you do about it? Officially a member of the Tiger Stripes Moms Club," Maria wrote.
On September 13, the mother-of-four gave birth to her three "beautiful babies," Iben, Agnes, and Filip at 35 weeks pregnant.
They weighed 4 lbs 7 oz, 4 lb 5 oz, and 5 lb 14 oz respectively.
"Everything went really well, and we are so happy and relieved," Maria shared.
Congratulations to Maria and Anders on their three new bundles of joy!
[H/T: Daily Mail]
Would you be able to cope being pregnant with triplets? Let us know in the comments!
