Jessica Pritchard, of Sheffield, UK, and her partner Harry Williams already have an 8-year-old daughter, and they are both eagerly anticipating the arrival of their second child, Mia, in May 2020. But the elementary school teacher learns she is expecting again only a few months later. That the 31-year-old was revealed to be pregnant once again in October 2020 while she was still on parental leave is unexpected enough. But everything will get even more thrilling!
Because of Cᴏʀᴏɴᴀ, Jessica is only allowed to attend ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛᴀʟ care alone. Unfortunately, expectant fathers are not allowed to accompany their partners to the ᴇxᴀᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴs in times of a ᴘᴀɴᴅᴇᴍɪᴄ. The 31-year-old describes the situation of the British newspaper “The Sun” very emotionally: “At the ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ, I was first told that I was having twins – and that alone sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ me quite a bit. But then the doctor looked even further and finally said she had seen a third baby! I was speechless,” says Jessica, “I couldn’t believe it at first. I waited until I was home to tell Harry.” He’s busy with her 8-year-old daughter and baby Mia at the moment, and in this situation, Mama Jessica doesn’t want to talk about the new blessing of children – because having triplets is one ʜɪɢʜ-ʀɪsᴋ pregnancy.
When she tells her partner Harry, the 34-year-old is completely sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ – and at first she doesn’t believe the news! “And so,” she continues, “Harry didn’t believe me until I showed him the ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ. And then he was very happy!”
The pregnancy is proceeding normally, but the triplets will be born in April 2021, 9 weeks too early, in the 31st week of pregnancy. They are healthy, and the family is happy. Ella, Olivia, and George have to spend 7 more weeks in the ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ ᴜɴɪᴛ with their mum before they can go home. And so Jessica gave birth to four children in just 11 months. What a crazy story! Together with her 8-year-old daughter, the 31-year-old and her 34-year-old partner, Harry, are now parents of five children.
Of course, with five children and three of them newborns, that means a lot of work and has turned the life of the young family ᴜᴘsɪᴅᴇ ᴅᴏᴡɴ. But Jessica takes it surprisingly calmly: “The last 12 months have turned a lot around for us. First came our ʟᴏᴄᴋᴅᴏᴡɴ baby and then three more afterwards. Feeding is especially fun because, of course, everyone has to be fed at the same time. Apart from the fact that everything takes longer, 3 diapers have to be changed instead of one.”
But the elementary school teacher seems to be managing the many babies pretty well. “I just have to organize myself better,” says the 31-year-old, “but I’m actually pretty well organized anyway.”
And so says the young mother, who, together with her partner, soon no longer has a small family to look after but an almost large family: “Yes, it was really a shock at first, but every pregnancy is a gift and that’s why we feel like it is simply blessed.” Well, after all, it also means “children’s blessings” – and Jessica and Harry just got an extra large portion of that.
