Gisele Macedo tells how it was to find out that three babies were on the way and what the routine has been like at home. “Seeing my children develop, interact with us, and look at us makes up for all the tiredness,” she says.
Motherhood comes into women’s lives in different ways and sometimes unexpectedly. For Gisele Macedo, an account executive who works in the area of foreign trade, the surprise was a triple dose. She always dreamed of becoming a mother, however, as she was already 41 years old, she believed that she would have a harder time getting pregnant naturally. “I had already given up on having children,” the professional said. Earlier this year, she and her husband, 42-year-old dentist Gustavo Menezes, discovered they were pregnant with triplets.
Born in São Paulo, Gisele was not planning to have children. Three months before becoming pregnant, she, now 42, had sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ to treat her ᴇɴᴅᴏᴍᴇᴛʀɪᴏsɪs. “We ended up getting pregnant during the holiday season. In January, she was late and I took a test, which came back positive. At first, I was scared, I told Gustavo, and he was very happy,” remembers his mother.
At five weeks pregnant, Gisele had her first ultrasound exam. On that occasion, it was possible to see a gestational sac, and the doctor advised the couple to return after two weeks. Upon returning for the consultation, the pair received the news that there were actually two gestational sacs and two heartbeats. “I was scared, I dreamed of being a mother, but never of twins,” she says.
However, the babies didn’t stop there! After returning from the trip, the two were informed that they were pregnant with quadruplets, however, two of the babies were sharing a gestational sac, and unfortunately, one of the fetuses did not develop. Thus, Gisele kept the triplets.
The executive reports that she had a smooth pregnancy and very careful prenatal care, mainly because she was diagnosed with ᴛʜʀᴏᴍʙᴏᴘʜɪʟɪᴀ. “Before I found out, I had already lost a baby,” she says. During the pregnancy, she took the injections constantly to prevent the loss of triplets.
In the final stretch of pregnancy, Gisele went through some difficulties. With a picture of increased pressure in pregnancy, the doctors opted for a ᴄᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. However, beforehand, they had to wait for the pregnant woman’s platelet level to increase so that she would not have any ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs during the surgery.
The little ones, Guilherme, Gabriel, and Giovana, came into the world at 30 weeks and 6 days on July 20, 2022. As they were born prematurely, the babies went straight to the incubator. “I didn’t hold them when they were born,” the mother laments. At the time, little Gabriel’s condition was a little more worrying, as he was unable to breathe on his own.
The triplets spent 48 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For Gisele, this was a very difficult period. “It was ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ to see the babies full of wires,” says the mother. However, despite this difficult time, the executive says that she had a lot of support from the hospital staff, who taught her how to establish a routine with the babies. “I had time to recover too,” she points out.
Now, with her children at home, the mother says she has been facing a very busy postpartum period. After all, taking care of three babies is not easy! However, physically, she reports that she feels recovered. As for everyday life at home, she has been trying to deal with her children’s needs and shares it with her followers on her Instagram profile. “As a mother of triplets, my biggest challenge is taking care of all the babies and giving them what they need. Another point is maternal exhaustion , something that no one looks at,” Gisele vents. “But seeing my children develop, interact with us, and look at us makes up for all the tiredness. It’s a lot of love!” she finishes.
