Our three natural wonders
The 200m to one identical triplets born without IVF
AT THE start, there was the usual excitement when she learnt she was expecting her first child.
Next, Sian Williams and partner Aaron Palfrey faced the shock that, having conceived naturally, she was pregnant with triplets.
And then, to top it all, came the unexpected triple whammy: They were going to have identical triplets – such a rare occurrence without the aid of fertility treatment that doctors say the chances of it happening are as high as 200million to one.
Due to the high risks associated with a multiple birth, Miss Williams, 31, was booked in for a caesarean section at 32 weeks – and the couple’s three bouncing baby girls duly arrived. Jorgie came first weighing 2lb 14oz, then Belle at a 3lb 2oz, and finally Olivia at 3lb 2oz.
Having just celebrated their first birthday, the trio are such the spitting image of each other that their parents have to put different colours of nail varnish on their big toes to tell them apart – purple for Jorgie, pink for Belle, and yellow for Olivia. Finance worker Miss Williams, from Cwmbran, South Wales, said: ‘I was excited to be having one baby, but in the scan the doctor picked up two heart beats and then a third one. One little egg had created three miracles.’
After the triplets’ birth in May last year, they were whisked off to intensive care, having been premature.
It was days before Miss Williams and Mr Palfrey, 26, could hold them. ‘But it was magical when we did,’ she said. ‘Aaron’s face was a perfect picture of pride. We couldn’t believe they were ours.’
Miss Williams also gets a helping hand from her mother Julie, 57, who lives next door.
She added: ‘Aaron and I are a great team and we juggle the feeds really well. It is amazing but they all seem to sleep at the same time – and long may it continue.’