As if dealing with COVID-19 and its major impact on our lives — imagine testing positive for the virus. Now, imagine also being pregnant — with triplets.
Sounds like something that would be in a movie, right? Well, not for Maggie Sillero. She was 28-weeks pregnant with triplets when she received her COVID-19 diagnosis. On May 8th, she had gone to The Woman’s Hospital of Texas in Houston and had zero signs of any symptoms, however, her results were positive.
Maggie was admitted to the hospital for observation because she was considered high-risk due to her pregnancy. The doctors wanted to monitor her and her babies during the final weeks of the pregnancy.
Maggie spoke with CNN and said that she hadn’t even left her house since March. She just assumed the COVID-19 test was routine procedure.
“When I got the news, it was very shocking. I could not believe it,” she said.
Having tested positive, Maggie’s entire family was tested for the virus. Her husband also tested positive — he was asymptomatic as well. Maggie’s mother’s and 5-year-old son’s tests both came back negative — although they were all living under the same roof. Thankfully, Maggie’s mother was able to take care of the little boy as she and her husband were quarantined.
Maggie struggled with being away from her home and family during this time, but she was able to FaceTime them regularly. She also spent time speaking with the nurses – donning full PPE gear.
“I got to know them each personally, which was great,” she said. “I felt like I had made new friends. So I didn’t feel alone at that time at all.”
Coincidentally, one of the nurses happened to be one of Maggie’s friends from middle school!
After being tested regularly while in the hospital, Maggie’s second negative test finally came back on June 4th — this meant that she was free of the virus. Feeling a major sense of relief, Maggie’s emotions quickly had to shift when she found out that one of her babies had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
After the alarming ultrasound, Maggie was rushed to have an emergency Caesarean section.
“Luckily, everything came out good,” she said. “The doctors were amazed at how well the babies were doing as soon as they were born.”
Unfortunately, Maggie’s husband was unable to attend the delivery because he had yet to test negative. But, thankfully, Maggie’s mom was there for the joyous occasion. Isabella was born first at 3.11 pounds, Nathaniel was second at 3.7 pounds, and Adriel was the youngest at 2.1 pounds — they were taken to the NICU where they could be monitored closely.
“They are doing really good. They’re being healthy. They’re growing as expected,” Maggie said.”Of course, they are premature. So there’s going to be some delays in certain things, but I mean, they’ve been doing really good that weight has been going up.”
On July 4th, the triplets turned 1 month old. They had all doubled in size and were doing wonderfully.
We all wish the best for the Sillero family and we hope that her husband gets well soon. If you’d like to watch a report above a local study being done to see how COVID-19 impacts pregnant women, watch the informational video below.
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