Last January (2008) I became pregnant via IVF. During my first u/s I found out that I was pregnant with triplets. I was completely overwhelmed. My RE suggested that we consider S/R. I had never even heard of it. I did my research and was then faced with a very tough decision: try to have three babies and hope that we make it far enough along that they would be okay or do the s/r. I flip/flopped for quite a while it seemed and then I finally made the decision to do the s/r. It wasn't easy but I felt like it was for the greater good of the majority of the babies that would get further along, have less medical issues, etc. Plus I had suffered several pregnancy losses in the past and wanted to give this pregnancy the greatest chance I could.
I am glad I did the s/r. I developed HELLP syndrome and nearly died carrying the twins. I finally delivered at 37 weeks but this was after five weeks in and out of the hospital due to high protein in my urine (at the end bordering kidney failure) and on top of that I had gestational diabetes that had to be treated with insulin. The end result is that I had two beautiful babies, a boy and a girl. They turned 1 on September 18th.
As far as the baby that was lost, I don't look at it that way. I think that baby is still with me in my two children that are here right now. That baby gave his life for the life's of his brother and sister as well as mine. I highly doubt our outcome would have been good at all if we had gone the other way.
A triplet pregnancy is no walk in the park. I was very disappointed by two perinatal doctors that inferred that to me (they were both men). A twin pregnancy is nothing to sneeze at either. It is much harder than a singleton and the bottom line is that multiples come early. The real question is how early? If they come too early, they can be at risk for increased health complications like cerebral palsy, blindness, death, etc. It really comes down to weighing the facts and listening to your soul. You will know what you need to do.
I don't know if this helps. I hope it does.
Mary