Wiseman,42,is a shy New Zealand native whose work as a nurse had taken her to Sydney,Saudi Arabia,Auckland and Alice Springs,and left little time for dating. But the fact she wasn’t prepared to make small talk with strangers in bars hadn’t stopped her from wanting a family.
Sarah Wiseman with triplets Isaac,Arlo and Hunter.Wayne Taylor
After investing years and about $100,000 in her plan to have a baby solo and seeing it derailed so many times,Wiseman just didn’t trust the positive pregnancy test when it came in October 2022.
“I’d never seen those two lines before,” she said. “So I did some more tests and some more tests and every different brand of test just to make sure.”
Wiseman was working as a neonatal nurse at the Royal Women’s Hospital caring for other people’s babies – as she struggled to have her own.
Having spent $50,000 on an unsuccessful pregnancy attempt using eggs imported from the US,Wiseman’s savings were drying up,but she hadn’t quite been ready to let go of the dream of bringing her own baby home from the hospital.
“I was close sometimes,especially after the American eggs,” she said. “Trying every month for a couple of years and then many cycles of IVF;I’ve done a lot of tests.”
A shortage of available donor eggs in Australia saw Wiseman follow up the US import attempt with a trip overseas. She travelled to the Middle East for eight days to receive a ready-made embryo transfer in northern Cyprus.
The successful donation put her on the path to parenthood,but pregnancy was not without its challenges.
One Friday,just a few weeks in,Wiseman had a bleed at work. She went to the emergency department and was told she’d lost a baby.
“I thought that was it,that was the end,” she said.
Wiseman spent the weekend thinking the pregnancy had been unsuccessful once again. It wasn’t until the following week that she could get in for a scan.
“They saw two babies. It looked like there had been four and there were two surviving. Twins I could deal with;I have two hands,” Wiseman said.
“I went back in two weeks and there were three babies there.”
Wiseman and her sons with her parents Lesley and Robin.Wayne Taylor
Wiseman called her mum in New Zealand as soon as she found out. Hearing her daughter in tears,Lesley Wiseman thought things must have once again gone wrong.
But a few months later,the retired 72-year-old would be on a plane from New Zealand to Melbourne awaiting the arrival of three grandsons.
Hunter,Arlo and Isaac were born at the Royal Women’s on April 12 at 34 weeks. They spent two and a half weeks in hospital learning to feed before they went home with the Wisemans to Wollert in Melbourne’s outer north.
Lesley stayed in Melbourne for almost six months;taking care of the cooking and helping with the cycle of feeding and changing. She returned with Sarah’s stepdad Robin Pert for Christmas,and the pair now plan to move permanently in February.
Wiseman said her now eight-month-olds are on a routine:they all feed at the same times,get changed at the same times and get put down to sleep at the same times.
Wiseman says each of the boys have their own,distinct personality.Wayne Taylor
“It can feel like a bit of a production line when you’ve got three on your own. When there’s more of us here you get more of the cuddles and playtime,” she said.
“It’s a bit crowded with three adults and three boys,I might have to look at a larger house. ”
The triplets sleep for around 11 hours a night and Wiseman squeezes in about six hours for herself. She said her moments of doubt were mostly due to financial strain – not the stress of caring for three crying babies.
Wiseman is using cloth nappies for the trio to cut costs and. But after becoming an Australian citizen in November,Wiseman is hopeful that childcare will be more accessible for the boys she waited so long to meet.
“Number one is Hunter;he is a little bit more cautious,a little bit more shy,but he’s really funny and gorgeous. Number two is Arlo;he’s a character,he’s very cheeky,and he’ll get into lots of trouble. And number three is Isaac;he is the clown,and he’s the one who’s really active,” she said.
Their pram has two seats facing outwards and one facing their mum. People on the street first see twins,then triplets,which typically gets a delighted response,she said.
Although solo parenting has had to be explained to a curious neighbour more than once,Wiseman said people are accepting of her non-traditional family. Her 2023 had been “incredible” and “a total change in my life”.
“The neighbour I went past and talked to a couple of times,they’re like:How? How did you this?”
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