Jessica Pritchard, aged 31, experienced two pregnancies during the lockdown period. She delivered her second daughter, Mia, in May 2020, and within a span of just 11 months, she celebrated the arrival of triplets in April of the following year.
Ritchard, who already has a daughter named Molly, age 8, said she and her partner Harry Williams, 34, were left “speechless” when they learned they were having triplets, but they felt “very lucky and blessed” with their new additions. Her triplets – Ella, George and Olivia – were born weighing 2lb 9oz, 3lb 11oz and 3lb 13oz respectively.
Mealtime is fun because they all need to feed at the same time. In addition to taking longer to feed, there are also three diapers to replace one. I just need to be more organized, but I’m a pretty organized person as it is.”
After giving birth to Mia, Pritchard was still on maternity leave when she learned she was expecting again in October 2020.
“At first the sonographer told me I was expecting twins, which was shocking in and of itself, but she kept searching and stated she had found a third child. My words failed me. I initially found it hard to believe. I held off telling Harry that he was with the girls until I got home because it was still very early and I didn’t want to break the news in front of the triplets.
”It was a big shock, but every pregnancy is a blessing so we consider ourselves very lucky”.
The children were born at 31 weeks of pregnancy, after birth we stayed at the hospital for 7 weeks to take care of them. When things gradually stabilized, the doctor sent us back to his home.
”We had it all, going home together. Molly loves being a big sister, She loves them all. She was such a good sister and always wanted to help,” Pritchard said. George currently weighs 10.11lb, while Olivia is 8.11lb and Ella 7lb. Since the triplets have been living together, things have gone well so far because they have a fairly solid routine and I’m generally relatively normal.
Having a baby is hard work, but we were made as easy as possible by NHS staff at Jessop Wing of Sheffield Hospital, giving me peace of mind. They are also very considerate and aware of how busy we are. Despite the fact that they occasionally have needs, they try their best to be together as much as possible to make things simpler. Different, this has changed everything.
