A Norwegian mom has earned a serious Instagram following, thanks to the incredible photos and videos she shared of her journey through triplet pregnancy.
Maria Jorstad is from Norway and lives in Copenhagen with her Danish husband and 2-year-old son. This week their family doubled in size when she gave birth to triplets Iben, Filip and Agnes.
Throughout her pregnancy, Jorstad posted photos and videos of her growing bump and baby prep on her Instagram account, triplets_of_copenhagen.
“It started off with me wanting to document our journey for my family and friends, especially since I live in another country but also because triplets are such a rare thing, I thought people would find it interesting,” Jorstad told HuffPost via email. “So I wanted it to be kind of a mini blog where I wrote about both the ups and the downs.”
As she neared her September due date, her following exploded, particularly after she posted a video showing off her belly at 33 weeks and four days ― roughly two weeks before she gave birth. In the video, she describes her belly as “really big,” “stretched so bad” and “really heavy as well.”
The video has been viewed more than 260,000 times, and her account now has 176,000 followers.
“I never in a million years expected this little video to go viral! I just thought it would be fun for my about 4,000 followers to see how big it really was,” she said. “You get another idea from a video than from a selfie in the mirror. I’ve seen other pictures of big bellies before, so I didn’t think it would be THAT spectacular.”
Jorstad described the experience as “quite surreal.”
“I have gotten really many sweet comments, cheering and love in the comments, and it’s so heartwarming. I’m totally overwhelmed by all of it,” she said.
Jorstad said she hopes people who come across her account get “insight into real life under really rare circumstances.”
“I want to be as honest as possible about what it feels like going through something as special and life-changing as all of sudden getting three babies at once,” she added. “I had never seen, heard or read anything about triplets before, so it was a completely new territory. I think it is a story I would have liked to follow myself ― it’s kind of fascinating to be able to follow something like this from the beginning.”
On Sept. 12, Jorstad welcomed two little girls and one boy.
“The babies are doing incredible!” she said, adding that they’re off their monitors as of Friday morning and need assistance only with feeding. The babies will be tube-fed until they reach their original due date to ensure that they get enough to eat.
“They are beautiful, perfect miniature babies! Sleep most of the day and make cute little sounds,” she said.
As for the mom, she’s still recovering from her C-section.
“It’s been quite tough but getting better day by day,” said Jorstad. “My husband and I are in the same room as the babies to take care of them 24/7 with assistance from the nurses. We’ll be here until they are strong enough to come home, hopefully within a few weeks!”
In the meantime, her devoted Instagram followers will undoubtedly shower the family with love and good vibes.
