One of the happiest situations for a mother and a couple who have long desired a child is becoming pregnant. Pregnancy is unknown to someone. A mother who loved adrenaline believed she was sick because she overdid it on roller coasters, but she actually suffered morning sickness and gave birth to triplets.
Kate Smith, 34, from Liverpool, was on a family holiday in Walt Disney World, Florida, in August last year when she started feeling ɴᴀᴜsᴇᴏᴜs. Ms. Smith initially thought she was unwell because she had gone on too many rides at the US theme park. But when her sɪᴄᴋɴᴇss persisted, the mother-of-two decided to take a pregnancy test – and discovered she was five weeks pregnant. She has now given birth to her healthy triplets: Dolly, Annie, and Gerard.
Ms. Smith, a beauty salon owner, said: ‘When I started to feel sick, I just assumed I’d gone on one too many fast rides. It wasn’t until the sɪᴄᴋɴᴇss ʀᴇfᴜsᴇᴅ to budge that Gerard urged I got a pregnancy test. We were thrilled when we realized I was actually pregnant, we had always wanted more children together.’
Ms Smith had gone on holiday with her two children and her husband Gerard, 34, when she began experiencing morning sɪᴄᴋɴᴇss -like symptoms. She decided to take the test while she was still in the US. Three weeks later, after returning home, the couple decided to book in for an early scan due to her extreme ɴᴀᴜsᴇᴀ. The scan, at eight weeks, revealed she was carrying four babies. The couple were later told that one of their babies had ᴅɪᴇᴅ during the pregnancy, but Ms Smith went on to have three healthy newborns in February.
She said: ‘I had a constant migraine and I was ᴇxʜᴀᴜsᴛᴇᴅ. I knew something wasn’t right and I was terrified I might have been having a ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ.
So I booked an early scan at eight weeks and we got the biggest sʜᴏᴄᴋ of our lives – there was four babies in there. Both myself and Gerard started laughing at first but then the reality set in and I started crying. We were both self-employed and we had no idea how we would cope.
‘Then, at our 12-week scan we were told one baby had ᴅɪᴇᴅ, something nurses explained was fairly common. And from that moment we realised how precious they were. We were devastated to have lost one and there was nothing we wanted more than them all to sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ.’ she said
Carrying three babies, Ms Smith swelled to double the size of her previous pregnancies with her son Louie, 10, and two-year-old daughter, Tia. Her stomach was so compressed that she lost her appetite for most of the 31-week pregnancy.
She said: ‘My stomach grew three times as fast and I looked eight months’ pregnant when I was only five months gone. By the time I was 31 weeks and 5 days, I looked as though I could’ve exploded, my stomach was enormous.
Since bringing the triplets home, the couple have followed a strict routine to ensure they are fed, changed and nap at the same time.
She added: ‘We feel so lucky to have triplets that are not only healthy but so well behaved as well. Even though our lives are hectic with two young children and three new-borns, I wouldn’t change it for the world.’
