四喜臨門 英女子一年連生4個寶寶

With four babies under the age of 18 months, no wonder proud but exhausted parents Sarah Ward and Benn Smith end up prone on two sofas most evenings with barely enough energy to lift a cup of tea to their lips

英國女子薩拉·瓦德在18個月的時間裏生了4個小寶寶，這讓薩拉和她的丈夫本·史密斯在驕傲的同時也非常疲憊。有了小寶寶之後的大多數晚上，兩人都是癱坐在沙發上，累得連端起水杯喝水的力氣都沒有了。

Seven-month-old 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.

4個小寶寶中，7個月的三胞胎斯坦利、雷吉和黛西是在他們的大哥弗萊迪出生9個月以後來到這個世界上的。這4個寶寶個個可愛漂亮、有着天使般的笑容，但照看他們也真的是很累人的一件事。

This, they both admit, is a far cry from the scene they envisaged when they first talked about starting a family three years ago. They imagined two children, hopefully one of each, nicely spaced apart.

薩拉夫婦倆承認，現在這種情況和他們3年前結婚時預想的可大不一樣。那時候他們希望將來生兩個孩子，且兩個孩子之間有一定的年齡差距。

Mother Nature had other ideas, and just weeks after giving birth to Freddie, in June 2013, Sarah naturally conceived the triplets — a one-in-8,000 chance.

不過顯然老天並不是這麼想的，在弗萊迪出生僅幾周之後，2013年6月份，薩拉又懷孕了，這次是三胞胎，機率僅爲八千分之一。

‘It was lovely at first, but when everyone asks the same questions over and over again it does start to grate a little bit,’ admits Sarah. ‘I’m thinking of having a T-shirt made with the words: “Yes, they’re all mine. No, they’re not IVF triplets and, yes, I’m in a rush!”’

“開始感覺很好，可不停地有人一遍又一遍問着相同的問題後，就覺得很煩了。”薩拉說：“我都在想穿一件T恤，然後在T恤寫着‘對，這些孩子都是我的。不是，他們不是試管嬰兒；是的，我確實忙瘋了。’”

‘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.

“照看四個孩子確實超出想象的困難，但我們覺得四個孩子是我們的福氣，我們感到很幸運。”本說：“當三胞胎對着我們咧嘴笑的時候，我們真的特別滿足並享受其中，都等不及看他們蹣跚學步的樣子了。”

At birth, Stanley, Reggie and Daisy were taken to intensive care weighing 3 lb 12oz, 4 lb 7oz and 3 lb 14oz respectively, but today Stanley is the biggest: a bouncing 15 lb 14oz.

出生的時候，三胞胎斯坦利、雷吉和黛西分別重3磅12盎司、4磅7盎司和3磅14盎司，而現在斯坦利是最重的一個，重15磅14盎司。

The triplets are all the more remarkable because Sarah and Benn were convinced they had fertility problems and feared Freddie might be an only child.

對薩拉夫婦來說三胞胎的意義非凡，因爲之前兩人曾有不孕問題，所以還一直擔心弗萊迪會是唯一的孩子。

Worried that her menstrual cycle had not returned to normal after the birth, Sarah took a home pregnancy test as a precaution — fully expecting it to be negative.

在弗萊迪出生之後，因爲月經週期仍未迴歸正常，所以薩拉在家做了驗孕測試，滿心期待着會是陰性。

Stunned at the positive result, she sent a picture message of the test to Benn, with the words ‘Guess what?’ He almost fell off his chair at work.

可當看到陽性的結果時，薩拉驚呆了，發照片和文字信息“你猜怎麼着”給正在上班的本，本看到後幾乎從椅子上跳了起來。

But more surprises were in store. An early six-week scan revealed two sacs, indicating a twin pregnancy.

但是更多的驚喜還在後面。6周掃描檢查的結果顯示薩拉懷的是雙胞胎。

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.

12周的掃描檢查中，超聲波檢測到了另一個胎心，於是醫生通知薩拉和本他們將要有三胞胎了。

The couple have never regretted that decision, but Sarah admits her pregnancy was both physically and emotionally arduous, filled with anguish and fear for the future and guilt over how little time she could devote to baby Freddie.

薩拉和本從來都沒有後悔過將三胞胎生下來，但薩拉承認懷三胞胎確實讓她承受了生理上和感情上的痛苦，也讓她對未來有很多擔心，同時伴隨她的還有不能常常陪在弗萊迪身邊的內疚感。

With four such young children, Sarah plans to put her career on hold until they are older, while Benn is hoping to transfer to a new role closer to home. Even so, it is a struggle surviving on one salary — half of which goes on their £888-a-month rent.

家裏有四個寶寶，讓薩拉決定暫時拋開事業，直到孩子們長大些再說。而本也希望能換一個離家近的工作。儘管如此，這個大家庭緊靠一份工資生活確實很緊張，況且工資的一半還得用來交每個月888英鎊的房租。

Sarah says: ‘We just have to budget and forget about luxuries. We bulk-buy nappies and formula milk so we never run out and just manage the best we can.

薩拉說：“我們得精打細算過日子，不會再買任何奢侈品。我們成批購買尿片和配方奶粉，這樣可以省些錢，總之，我們會盡我們所能的。”

‘We feel incredibly lucky, and just can’t imagine life without them.’

“有這四個孩子我們感到非常幸運，現在我們根本無法想象沒有他們的生活。”