A wandering sensation

I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that I was to become a wandering sensation – but when I learned that we were expecting triplets, I soon realized that this would be a reality. Suddenly I remembered an episode from when I was pregnant with my first-born and saw a poor man pushing a triplet stroller up a snow-covered hill, and I immediately whispered to Anders: «Phew, I am so happy that won’t be us, haha!” While I shushed at my mother who commented a little too loudly, since the triplet father only was about 5 meters ahead of us. Little did I know…

Already after 23 weeks I looked full term. Throughout the summer, I was asked by strangers on the street if I was due soon, whereupon I had the pleasure of giving them the surprise of the day by saying that it was actually several months until the birth (“Really ?!”) because there are three babies (“Triplets?! Oooh, you will have your hands full!”)

The last few weeks leading up to the caesarean section in week 36, it was clear that my belly was far beyond normal. I preferred to wear tight-fitting tops and dresses over my belly, and with my slim body shape the giant belly stood directly out, but from behind you couldn’t see that I was pregnant. I remember the shocked gazes from passers-by when my giant belly appeared completely out of the blue and I noticed how people at the mall stared, pointed and clearly talked about me. I really felt how it is to look different or recognizable. And I wasn’t always comfortable with it.

The first 5 months after the triplets were born we could hide a bit behind our twin pram, since twins are pretty common nowadays and don’t stir much attention anymore. Occasionally we were able to give an old lady or a young mother – who had the time and interest in looking down into the pram – a little surprise, and they usually responded with both enthusiasm and emotion.

Eventually, however, the time came when the babies grew out of the twin pram, and we had to pull out the two monster strollers we had stored away in the basement. The first one a 108 cm wide one with three carry cots in a row (so wide that it does not fit through any normal doors and must be folded and carried out for us to be able to use it), the other a more narrow type of stroller (84 cm), but with two floors so that it is too high for me to be able to look over the top, which makes me have to look from side to side while pushing it to not run over anything or anyone.

The maiden voyage was with the stroller where they lay three in a row, and we were quite excited when we walked down the street on a test trip a Sunday morning in the sunshine. Anders first with the wide load, and me with Mikael in his stroller. And we certainly made heads turn! We stopped for a moment, and immediately someone came over for a chat. And while we stood there I noticed how people stared and I could clearly hear a buzz and the word “triplets” all around us. It was just as if people thought we were deaf?! My immediate reaction was to giggle and be shy, but at the same time I couldn’t help but feel proud of the three cutie pies in the stroller.

It is all about our mood. Sometimes it is nice to meet a stranger’s eyes, smile back and talk to people that approaches us. But we have also noticed that if we walk a little fast, stare straight ahead or talk to each other and wear sunglasses, then we almost always get to walk in peace and do not notice all the stares. Either ways, the children will soon be so big that people will see them more as normal siblings, and there will be less attention. So until that time, we will try our best to become confident in the role as the local circus squad.