A 29-year-old UK mum identified as Sarah Ward and her partner, Benn Smith are now proud parents of four kids all welcomed in a space of nine months. After first welcoming a son called Freddie, the couple was surprised to learn at the hospital two months later that Sarah was expecting triplets once more.
Triplets Stanley, Reggie and Daisy — born just nine months after their big brother Freddie — may be bonny little chunks of gorgeousness, bestowing gummy smiles on all and sundry, but they are highly labour-intensive.
Mother Nature had other ideas, in June 2013, only a few weeks after giving birth to Freddie, Sarah spontaneously became pregnant with the triplets, a chance of one in 8,000. It was a blessing, although it didn’t quite feel that way to begin with.
The triplets were born two months prematurely in March by emergency Caesarean, when Stanley’s heart rate suddenly dropped dangerously low, and it’s been a baptism of fire ever since, with barely time to stop for breath.
“It’s been incredibly hard, but we see all our children as a blessing and feel incredibly lucky,” says Benn.
“When the triplets started smiling and laughing at us, that’s when we really started to enjoy it, and we can’t wait until they start toddling.
Sarah adds: “When we found out I was carrying triplets, we were offered a selective reduction because of the risks associated with a multiple pregnancy, but Benn and I don’t believe in abortion — and even if we did, which one do you let go?
“Looking at all three of them now, I know I could never have lived with the guilt of letting one of them die — always thinking there should be three instead of two.”
Just how precious the triplets are to them was driven home by a near tragedy two weeks after the babies were released from hospital.
Stanley stopped breathing and nearly died after contracting bronchiolitis, a lung infection. “I still feel overwhelmed when I think about how we nearly lost Stanley,” says Sarah, eyes brimming with tears.
She adds: “I can’t imagine life without them all, but our family is definitely complete. No more babies.”
In the NICU upon delivery, Stanley, Reggie, and Daisy weighed 3 lb 12 oz, 4 lb 7 oz, and 3 lb 14 oz, respectively. Today, Stanley is the heaviest at a bouncing 15 lb 14 oz.
Benn adds: “I was very worried about Sarah going through a twin pregnancy so soon after having Freddie and felt panicked.
Which was just as well, because at the 12-week scan the sonographer detected a third heart-beat and informed Sarah and Benn that they were expecting triplets.
“Because the pregnancy was so high risk, I was immediately referred to a consultant and we were offered a selective reduction, but we both turned it down. We just felt it was God’s will.”
The couple has never looked back on that choice, although Sarah acknowledges that it was difficult physically and mentally for her to carry Freddie, and that she felt guilty for spending so little time with him.
Benn, who was looking after Freddie, missed Stanley’s birth but arrived just in time to see Reggie and Daisy being born — tiny little scraps who had to be whisked away to incubators after the briefest of tear-filled hellos.
“It was incredibly emotional. They looked so tiny and I felt so helpless because I could do nothing for them. I couldn’t even hold them,” says Benn, whose children would spend the next seven weeks in hospital.
Sarah and Benn visited the triplets daily while they were in the hospital, but they focused most of their attention on nine-month-old Freddie.
Prior to the triplets being released from the hospital one at a time and completely upending their life, they cherish this time.
“Love is far more important than money and there’s more than enough of that to go around. When we look at our gorgeous, happy babies smiling back at us we know they are worth every sacrifice.
“We feel incredibly lucky, and just can’t imagine life without them.”
