A mother-of-four has revealed she bounced back to her pre-pregnancy body after involving her children in her workouts.
Taryn Anderson, 31, underwent an extraordinary body transformation – and she’s now fitter than ever just two years after giving birth to triplets.
She went from struggling to walk across the room to working out five times a week in an inspiring post-partum fitness journey that saw her lose 22 kilograms.
The Perth physiotherapist said like any new mother, she needed time to recover from the birth of her three babies, despite having been previously active.
Taryn Anderson has undergone an extraordinary transformation after the birth of her triplets
‘After giving birth, I was floppy everywhere and had no muscle mass left,’ she said.
‘All I did for the first four months was wear recovery shorts that held my tummy together as I had a four centimetre abdominal separation after giving birth to four babies in 22 months.’
Rather than throw herself into a hectic fitness schedule in order to ‘bounce back’, Taryn took a slower approach – one that allowed her to juggle the demands of motherhood.
In the early days, the mum-of-four (pictured working out next to her daughter Posey) slowly added in things like going for a 15 minute walk with the pram and slow built that up over time
‘I have a cargo bike that I strap the kids into and I use it to take them to school, to the market and to the library,’ Taryn said (pictured taking Ava, Euan, Posey and Bryn out for a bike ride)
‘I slowly added in things like going for a 15 minute walk with the pram in the early days and I just built that up over time,’ she said.
‘I started doing regular gentle workouts three times a week when the triplets were eight months old.’
Although running around after three two-year-olds has kept Taryn on her toes, she’s also found a way to incorporate them into her 30-minute workouts five times a week.
’80 per cent of my workouts are done with the kids, either at home, at the park, riding the bike or doing some pilates or yoga that I watch on YouTube,’ she said.
‘I have a cargo bike that I strap the kids into and I use it to take them to school, to the market and to the library.’
Taryn incorporated her triplets into her 30-minute workouts five times a week (pictured working out with one of her triplets while doing the laundry)
‘I love involving the kids because they learn the importance of being active’ (pictured two of her children taking part in their mother’s workout)
She said that by getting the kids involved in her fitness, not only set a good example but it meant she doesn’t have to use up her precious ‘me time’ for working out while the kids are asleep.
‘I love involving the kids because they learn the importance of being active.
‘It rubs off on them so much, like the other day Ava put her feet up on the couch in a push up position just to show me she could.’
‘It just means I can be more active during my day.
Although Taryn and her husband Heath Anderson, a 32-year-old geologist, suspected they might be having twins, the couple got the shock of their lives when the doctor revealed it was triplets.
Taryn and her husband Heath Anderson, a 32-year-old geologist got the shock of their lives when they found out they were having triplets
‘I had a big baby bump early on so I thought maybe it was twins, said Taryn.
Naturally occurring triplets are still a rare phenomenon representing just one in 9,000 pregnancies in Australia.
‘My dad’s a triplet and his grandmother’s a twin while on my mum’s side there’s twins in every generation so I guess it was in the back of my mind,’ she said.
Already parents to four-year-old Ava, new additions Posey, Euan and Bryn instantly doubled the size of the family.
New additions Posey, Euan and Bryn instantly doubled the size of the family
‘When they first did the scan, the doctor said “Oh yes, its twins, there are two separate sacs”.
‘But then he said “Wait, let me double check” and after an internal scan he found the third one.’
‘We went from being completely excited for twins to then being completely overwhelmed that it was triplets in the space of two minutes.
‘I got quite cross with the poor sonographer because I was in such shock. I told him “No, you told us two, you can’t change your mind”.’
‘During the pregnancy, I was three times as tired, three times and sick and three times as sore and uncomfortable,’ Taryn said
For a triplets pregnancy, Taryn’s and usual symptoms like morning sickness and back pain were far more intense and debilitating.
‘During the pregnancy, I was three times as tired, three times and sick and three times as sore and uncomfortable.
‘Usually women don’t start getting Braxton Hicks contractions until their third trimester but I got them at 11 weeks with the triplets.
At her 12-week scan Taryn’s boys were diagnosed with a rare and dangerous condition called twin-to-twin transfusion, which can occur when two babies share a placenta.
While Taryn’s pregnancy was fairly plain sailing the mum admits she did face some complications (pictured of the triplets – Euan, Bryn and Posey)
‘I was worried that I’d need to have surgery while the triplets were still inside of me.
‘But I got very lucky, as the boys just progressed and thankfully it didn’t get any worse or require any medical intervention.’
And at 33 weeks and 4 days, which is considered full-term for triplets, Taryn’s doctor discovered that the blood flow to Posey was diminishing.
‘During the birth I had 25 doctors in the room. It was very full on but I was just so relieved they all arrived healthy’ (pictured while pregnant with the triplets)
Instead of wait any longer for the babies to develop, doctors decided to go ahead with Taryn’s caesarean acting just in time to keep Posey and her brothers safe.
‘During the birth I had 25 doctors in the room. It was very full on but I was just so relieved they all arrived healthy.’
Taryn’s triplets spent three weeks in hospital after they were born because they were so tiny, a time she said was tough on her and the family.
‘When the babies came home it was incredibly hard. I would get two or three hours of broken sleep a night and I was breastfeeding them as well so that was a bit of a juggling act.’
The triplets Posey, Euan and Bryn with their big sister Ava (pictured second from left)
While most people can’t imagine the chaos that comes with having four kids under five, the busy mum said the most challenging aspect of it has not been anything to do with the children but with nasty remarks from complete strangers.
‘It’s crazy how many negative comments I get when I’m just out and about,’ she said.
‘To a sleep deprived new mum who has worked so hard to bring them into the world healthy, hearing those comments was the hardest thing to deal with.
‘People would say things like “That’s my worst nightmare” or “I’d rather be dead than have so many children” and “That’s a fate worth than death”.’
The busy mum said the most challenging aspect of it has not been anything to do with the children but with nasty remarks from complete strangers (pictured with Ava and Posey)
Irrespective of others reactions on seeing her brood, Taryn said her and Heath couldn’t be happier, and that now their children are a bit older, life has also become easier too.
‘My husband and I chuckle to ourselves when we hear them all playing and chatting in the next room,’ she said.
Taryn urges other mothers who may be struggling after giving birth to adopt a kinder attitude towards themselves, and not succumb to an idea they need to look a certain way.
‘I think the most important thing for new mums to realise is that no one just bounces back,’ she said.
‘You need to take it slow and be kind to yourself.’