Melinda Lombardo-Vosolo will treasure every moment with her ‘miracle’ triplets this Mother’s Day.
A team of 20 specialists, nurses and midwives were involved in the dramatic delivery of her babies Gianluca (956g), Massimo (1517g), Danilo (1091g) and– at Brisbane’s Mater Mothers’ Hospital in January.
The trio were delivered by emergency caesarean section 10 weeks early after Ms Lombardo-Vosolo went into early labour.
The tiny triplets needed the support and assistance of the neonatal team at birth and then spent 70 days in Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit before they could finally go home with their smitten parents.
Today doctors are pleased with the trio’s progress and mum and dad Gianfranco, are enjoying their busy but blissful new lives.
“It will be a very special Mother’s Day, and one I will remember forever, but I probably won’t get to sleep in this year,” Mrs Lombardo-Vosolo said.
“It’s been very hectic since we got home, but we take it in turns to do the night feeds and fortunately we have a set of grandparents living a couple of streets away, which has been very helpful.”
“I will definitely do the morning feeds on Mother’s Day, and I will try to give Melinda a break, and then it will be coffee and biscotti in bed, hopefully,” Mr Vosolo said.
“I’m so proud of my wife and what she’s been through to create our family and watching her be a mum to our three beautiful sons has been amazing.”
Mrs Lombardo-Vosolo said she was shocked but thrilled to learn she was carrying triplets at her seven-week scan.
“I started crying, I was so overwhelmed with emotions,” Ms Lombardo-Vosolo said.
“Fortunately, I had a great pregnancy, and never got morning sickness, so things went smoothly – right up until my last scan at 28 weeks.
“All the boys were a similar size right up until that scan, and then it was obvious that Gianluca was smaller than his brothers, but he was being monitored carefully.”
Mater’s Director of Neonatology Dr Pita Birch said triplet pregnancies and births carry a higher risk of complications.
“Having triplets means a high-risk pregnancy, particularly with regard to how all three babies grow, with mum having to provide nutrients and nutrition to all three,” Dr Birch said.
“There is also the risk of blood pressure and placenta problems, space issues and a high risk of preterm birth.
“Gianluca was smaller than his brothers and needed more cardiorespiratory support at birth, but we had a team of specialists present for each baby.
“We were well prepared, which enabled the team to safely deliver all three boys to the Mater NCCU and they are now all in excellent health.”
Mrs Lombardo-Vosolo said the first two months of the triplets’ lives involved round-the-clock care by a team of Mater specialists and midwives.
“We are so grateful for the support and care we received at Mater, in what was the most difficult time of our lives,” Mrs Lombardo-Vosolo said.
“Our boys are definitely Mater little miracles and we are so glad to finally have them home, it’s the best Mother’s Day gift ever.”
Mater provides Australia’s busiest maternity service and each around 1,800 very ill and premature babies receive round-the-clock specialist care from the team in Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit.
Last year four sets of triplets were delivered at the South Brisbane facility, as well as 169 sets of twins.
