First- time parents hoped to raise twokids, but got triplets
All three daughters are doing well, Nepali couple ponder future plans
ANepali couple in the UAE capital have become first- time parents, welcoming not one but three babies into their lives.
Mother Alisha Suwal, 30, and the daughters are all doing well, and the infants have finally been taken home after spending five weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“Right now, we are sleepdeprived, and trying to set up a routine for ourselves. Fortunately, both my husband and I are off from work, and this is giving us a chance to settle in,” Suwal told Gulf News.
Suwal and her husband, Vivek Sreshta, a 27- year- old security supervisor, have been married for eight years. Having made plans to start a family, they expected to raise two children. But the triplets were spontaneously conceived, and the couple only found out at the height of the Covid- 19 curbs.
“I had gone down for my three- month scan alone. It was at the height of the Covid19 restrictions in April. So imagine my shock when the doctor told me that we would soon become parents to triplets. I was shocked, scared and yet excited,” Suwal said.
“I have three sets of twins in my extended family, but ours are the first triplets,” Sreshta added.
According to Dr Walid Al Sherbiny, head of department for obstetrics and gynaecology at Medeor Hospital, triplet pregnancies only occur once in every 6,400 pregnancies.
Sudden bleeding
After the initial announcement, the couple set about managing the pregnancy. Suwal said the first trimester was especially tough because she could barely stomach anything, but after that, things were progressing fairly smoothly.
Suwal, who works as receptionist at a popular retailer, had already been told to take extra care, and she received permission to work from home. In August, the couple had marked a simple baby shower with friends and family virtually. But Suwal woke up to find some bleeding, and told her husband that she was in pain.
Dr Al Sherbiny said that Suwal did not go into labour, but that one of the babies’ amniotic sacs had ruptured, leading to the bleeding and discomfort.
“[ Suwal] was only 31weeks pregnant, but it was deemed safest to deliver the babies. We first gave medicines to improve the babies’ brain and lung maturity, and the babies were then born on August 29,” Dr Al Sherbiny said.
He added that Suwal did well after the delivery, andwas discharged without any complications after just three days.
The couple named their daughters Viyana, Avilasha and Ariyana.
“We don’t have childcare support at the moment, but my employer gave me two months off and my wife is on maternity leave. We are now sorting out all the paperwork, and planning to fly down to Nepal so our parents can help us out for a while,” Sreshta said.