The Fairbanks couple embraces challenges as a gift and expresses gratitude for their "little" family. Upon discovering that their family would soon grow, the couple, already parents of two children, eagerly anticipated the arrival of a new sibling. The dream of having three children had always been a cherished aspiration for both parents. However, this pregnancy felt different, not in a worrisome way but uniquely special, confirming the intuition that seldom leads astray.
Crystal Fairbanks, in week 10 of her pregnancy, went for a routine check-up where an ultrasound was unexpectedly suggested. Considering it a pleasant bonus, the expectant mom was taken aback when the doctor's demeanor shifted to seriousness during the examination.
He exclaimed, "Oi! Wait a minute now, and I thought that now there is no child in there, or something is wrong. But then he suddenly says, 'Oh my God, I’m two heartbeats. You are expecting twins,'" recounts the mother.
Initially anticipating two to four children, the couple was in for a surprise as the pregnant belly expanded, revealing that they were, in fact, expecting triplets.
"I knew all along that the delivery would be through a c-section but got overly nervous a few weeks before delivery. Throughout the pregnancy, I was so focused on keeping the babies healthy and cooking for as long as possible. I heard many scary scenarios about delivering too soon, so I was counting to get to a safer point daily.
(For some reason when you're pregnant with multiples, everyone likes to share all of the scary stories of their cousin’s cousin that had babies early, etc., and I let fear of that creep in.) By the time we were at a safer place with the babies, the fear of delivery came. My OB was awesome and so patient with me. He knew I was nervous, so he scheduled the delivery on his vacation time off because he knew that him being there comforted me.
Everything went so smoothly. Everyone was so excited to be there with us, which really helped calm my nerves! We had almost 20 people in the operating room. Three doctors, nurses, an anesthesiologist, and a NICU crew for each of the babies. I remember the anesthesiologist being so sweet to me the whole time. He kept holding my hand and talking me through everything. Eva was popping back and forth from my side to the doctors’ side to where each of the babies were getting oxygen levels checked. Eli came head down, followed by Easton who was born in the sac, and Jade born feet first! Eva got the entire thing on video, and it’s the coolest thing. We have decided to save that just for us for now, but we are sharing a small snippet of it here!
My recovery has been really hard because my belly was so stretched that it would hang way over my incision, making it take longer to fully close and heal. I had to physically lift it with both hands to see the incision for the first month's PP. It’s now finally completely healed!
Looking back, I wish I wasn’t so nervous for this moment because it is so special. I wish I could relive it again!"
