By Jade Glen
Most new parents feel like they’ve got their hands full with one baby in the house – Pakenham parents Kerryn and Clive Byrom took things a few steps further, welcoming three daughters in the space of a year.
Super parents Kerryn and Clive juggled the needs of three babies while Kerryn recovered from a serious birth complication that required daily nurse visits for more than five months.
Their incredible year began on 3 May, 2015, when their daughter Abigail was born.
“I had only recently commenced my maternity leave from my full-time job and I thought I would give myself a couple of weeks to relax before my baby arrived,” Kerryn said.
“I assumed I would go in to labour after my due date like my mother did for all her children. I was looking forward to Netflix and chill!”
Kerryn’s plans of spending a few weeks relaxing and preparing for her firstborn’s arrival came to an abrupt halt at her next obstetrician appointment.
“After going through some routine tests the whole place turned upside down and everyone was in a mad panic. I was 38 weeks and had developed pre-eclampsia and my blood pressure was dangerously high. Within a couple of hours I was induced.
“Two days and many, many, many contractions later I was still only 1.5cms dilated and I had to undergo an emergency caesarean section.”
Abigail was born weighing 3.74kg or 8lb 4oz on the old scales, and Kerryn recovered well.
Just four months later, in August, 2015, Kerryn discovered she was pregnant again.
“I felt from the very beginning that I was having twins. My husband and my doctor both thought I was crazy! An early dating scan showed two beautiful little blobs. My husband was ecstatic. He had always wanted twins. I was in a state of disbelief.”
At her usual obstetrician appointment at 34 weeks pregnant, it was discovered that Kerryn had again developed pre-eclampsia.
“I was admitted to hospital immediately and administered various medications and monitored for several days. The doctors were trying to reduce my blood pressure to give the twins more time to develop in utero. In the meantime I was given steroid injections.
Unfortunately the treatment could not bring Kerryn’s blood pressure back to safe levels and she underwent another emergency caesarean on 20 March, 2016, when the twins were at 35 weeks gestation.
“The twins were immediately rushed off to the neonatal special care unit where they were placed in humidicribs. They were in the special care unit for 12 days. At birth they weighed 2.42kg (5lb 5oz) and 2.32kg (5lb 2oz). They were born one minute apart and named Emma and Paige respectively,” Kerryn said.
“My recovery this time around was much harder. I was in significant pain following the surgery and it got worse every day.
“A week following the birth of Emma and Paige my wound burst open at home and upon readmission to ED I was diagnosed with a severe infection with the underlying infected fluid measuring 21cm wide and 6cm deep. After failed IV antibiotics I underwent a secondary surgery to clear out the infected fluid and tissue – I was then left with an open wound. It required being packed and dressed daily until it slowly healed itself – it took five and a half months.”
Abigail was only 10 months old when the twins were born.
“She wasn’t at an age where we could just explain to her what was happening. She struggled with being away from us while were at hospital. We had never spent any time away from her,” Kerryn said.
“When we all returned home together and Clive and I sat on the couch together each holding a twin, it was at that moment that poor little Abigail broke down in tears.
“It took her about two to four weeks to adjust to the change. Her sleeping was affected in that time but she did return to normal. She is now perfectly happy with the twins and loves to kiss and cuddle them and play with them.”
Kerryn and Clive’s family all lived interstate at the time of the twins’ birth, but some family moved to the area a month or so after they were born.
“The hardest part of having three babies under one was dealing with my open wound and the daily dressing and packing of it. It took five and a half months to heal. That was five and a half months of daily RDNS visits that I would get half an hour’s notice for, and during that half an hour I had to have each baby fed and placed somewhere safe, and I had to have a shower as I was only allowed to shower immediately before dressing changes.
“My husband would help when he got home from work and on weekends and my in-laws would also help on weekends when they weren’t working if we needed it.”
The first few months were exhausting, as there was never a time when all three babies would sleep at once.
“The routine was basically sleep, feed, sleep, feed, sleep, feed times three and then I would try and get some rest in there myself. And then came that glorious time, when the twins were 11 months old, when all three babies started having the same nap time!”
Abigail is now 26-months old, and Emma and Paige are 16-months.
“Life is so much fun. It can be hectic and chaotic. I try to stay organised. I love to watch the girls play and laugh together. We enjoy getting out of the house when we can, it can be quite challenging some days. But I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Kerryn said.
“I’ve been blessed so much with these beautiful daughters and I just hope that I can be a great mum for them.”
