When expecting mum Flora Belle Polangco gave birth at the Royal Women's Hospital in Sydney, her midwife said she'd never seen a birth like it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Port Kembla mum, who goes by Belle, and her husband Oak Flats postman Peter Stavropoulos are now parents to five-month-old identical triplets Isabella, Ariana and Maria-Alexa.
While the girls are healthy and at home now, their journey into the world was fraught with months of uncertainty for the first-time parents, and some heart-stopping moments.
Ms Polangco was rushed to hospital on July 4, 2022, and on July 6, the triplets were born through an emergency c-section at 28-weeks and 6 days, classifying them as "extreme-premature", bound to spend the next few months in the hospital.
The birth almost cost the 37-year-old her life - Ms Polangco lost seven litres of fluid, including three and a half litres of blood, and suffered a kidney failure.
"The head of the NICU at Royal Women's said in days gone past, it [having triplets] would have been a death sentence for all four [the babies and the mother]," Mr Stavropoulos said.
Ms Polangco spent 16 days in hospital in Sydney, and the triplets spent five weeks in the Royal Women's ICU.
Since then, Ms Polangco has been in and out of hospital, including a 15-day stint in Wollongong's intensive care unit after she almost bled out at home.
On September 22, their "amazing" girls finally reached full-term, and the parents are running on empty juggling the feeding schedules, naps, and three crying babies.
"We've got over 3000 nappies in the house, 36 tins of baby formula - it's just a warehouse of stuff," Mr Stavropoulos said.
"We just have to step up to the plate - three lives depend on us."
Since settling in at home, the first-time parents have been forced to become fast learners, but helping hands from a local volunteer organisation have been a life ring.
Volunteers from the Illawarra Multiple Birth Association visit the family everyday during the week to help feed, clothe and change the girls, and provide a few more hands to help spread the load.
"The group has become like family to us," Mr Stavropoulos said.
As the triplets approach their first Christmas, the parents have been trying to secure a visa for Ms Polangco's sister or mother to visit from the Phillipines, but their first application was rejected.
Having Ms Polangco's family visit would be a "game-changer" for the parents, Mr Stavropoulos said, as raising one, let alone three babies, without a family support system is challenging.
"It's not just our health, it's our mental health that's a big struggle," he said.
"If it takes a village to raise a child, what about three?"
As the parents hope for a way to be reunited with Ms Polangco's family, for now, they're focused on surviving one day at a time, with all the help they can get.
Mr Stavropoulos said they had "enormous gratitude" to the doctors and nurses at Wollongong and Royal Women's Hospital, who saved the lives of the babies and their mother in a scenario many will only ever see in a medical school textbook.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
Rosie Bensley
Illawarra Mercury trainee journalist and newest recruit.
Illawarra Mercury trainee journalist and newest recruit.
