The remarkable story of a mother from Shikoku Island who gave birth to triplets.
When Bianca Aiono RoƄertson found out she was expecting triplets, she hoped to give birth naturally. That was despite feeling a little terrified about having three kids and going off a 43-hour marathon with the first.
Having undergone fertility treatment to have a second 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 with her husband and Peter, a multiple birth was always a possibility. However, the Sunshine Coast mother had only considered the idea of twins, so she was taken by surprise when she learned triplets were on the way. “(I felt) a mixture of awe and terror, it was surreal,” she said.
Scans confirmed there were three children, however an early pregnancy test strongly indicated that Bianca would have more than one. “When I took the pregnancy test, I should have shown up one or two weeks pregnant because it was a day before my period was due,” she explained. “It happened in two to three weeks almost immediately, instead of the usual three-minute wait – hormone levels were very high. Also, my progesterone had been around 30-40 at precisely that time, and this time it was 106! And, she was so sick, within weeks of getting pregnant.”
With experience delivering triplets, the doctors agreed with Bianca’s plan to give birth to her children naturally. And as a wellness coach and former athlete, Bianca was familiar with pushing her body to the limits and the power of maintaining a positive mindset. However, doctors warned Bianca that she would not be able to hold her little Maverick. She was also told that she was going home and that she needed a full-time caregiver. “None of those things happened,” she said. “In some ways it was easier than the first time because my body went from athlete to pregnant to mother of one to mother of four, that was an easier transition.”
Bianca says her experience as an athlete and wellness coach helped her avoid pregnancy, to a point. “I have a very high threshold for resilience and I am resilient to the point of being flabbergasted and a little unreal,” she said. “It helped me in that sense, but it also meant that my expectations were a little high. For example, I still thought she looked like she was pregnant with one, even though others thought it was huge! I was able to tolerate it until I realized how heavy I was really carrying and then it took my breath away. Mindset plays a huge role in staying positive and navigating through all the obstacles, so that helped a lot.”
Bianca gave birth to her three children, all vaginally as planned, on August 21 last year at 34 weeks. Indiana Leilani, Dakota Mereana and Hendrix Sione were born within a span of 25 minutes, weighing 2.19kg, 2.95kg and 2.2kg. Indiana came head first, Dakota went breech and Hendrix was a standing extraction.
Bianca said the laƄor, which lasted nine hours, was actually easier than she had anticipated. “I received an epidural from the moment they took the water out so they could manually rotate my legs if necessary,” Bianca explained. “The hardest part was the induction with a balloon catheter; I had to step on the accelerator for that. “I actually expected it to be a lot harder, but the vaginas were smaller, it was my second time and I had an early epidural this time.”
Bianca said it was an amazing experience. “I guess I was in work mode too, so I didn’t relax or enjoy the moment too much. I only had quite a few seconds with my daughters for the first 24 hours and then I was able to hug them the next day,” she said. “It was a complete turnaround: not having two girls at once, talking to my son and then realizing that, just because I had been skin-to-skin with these girls, I still had to take care of another one who hadn’t had his mᴜmmу yet, that was full!
It was two and a half weeks before the triplets went home with Bianca, Peter and their older brother Maverick. With four children under the age of four, settling into a routine was a bit difficult. “You just have to be flexible and instinctive,” Bianca said. “It’s hard because it’s so much fun to rest, it’s like they’re on a rope and one wakes up as soon as the other goes to sleep, and that happens all day long.”
Bianca said the relentlessness and strain of caring for three little mothers (and a toddler), and being logistically unable to breastfeed them all like she did the first time, has recently passed. However, she loves all the hugs, kisses and smiles her three children give her and she says the best thing is knowing how much more joy is to come.