Stacey Solomon has reflected on the struggles of solo parenting while husband Joe Swash works away for a few days. The Loose Women panellist welcomed her second daughter into the world just three-and-a-half weeks ago and has admitted that she is "trying not to be hard on herself" as she looks after her newborn alongside her other young children.
Fans were delighted last year when the Sort Your Life Out host debuted her baby bump, announcing that her and hubby Joe were expecting their third child together. The Manchester Evening News reports that she was already eight months pregnant when she shared the news with the world after finding out "late" herself.
And baby Belle was born just before Valentine's Day, with Stacey saying she "literally flew" into the world at their family home, lovingly dubbed Pickle Cottage. Following the home-birth, the X-Factor star has been sharing little updates as she navigates her life as a mum-of-five- Stacey shares 16-month-old Rose and Rex, three with I'm A Celebrity winner Joe and also has two sons, Zachary and Leighton from previous relationships.
Read more: Stacey Solomon's adorable Belle and Rose picture sparks fan warning they 'may unfollow her'
However, having a newborn can be very testing and in her latest update the 33-year-old spoke candidly about the difficulties of running the house without Joe. She shared a post to her Instagram Stories which showed her holding Belle while Rose and Rex climbed up on the table around her.
Stacey had her hair tied up and was smiling into the mirror as she filmed the chaos around her. She explained that she had done the school run and was going to be setting off to do a bit of shopping with Rose and Belle.
"Joe's away working for a few days so I tried to get myself out of the house," Stacey captioned the video. "I did the school run and then me and the girls went for a walk around the shops."
She added: "Belle and our new life with a newborn is only 3.5 weeks in so I'm trying not to be too hard on myself for not making it out past the school run most days. But it was lovely to get out for a few hours and just walk around and see/speak to people."
Hours later Stacey shared another picture of her kids washed up and ready to go to bed, with Rose and Rex in adorable matching pyjamas and Rose playing with her new hair clips. Stacey joked: "Didn't get chance to wash myself but I put on my new PJs on so I feel cleanish."
These updates come days after Stacey's dad came to the rescue as she struggled with an "impossible" task. Pleading with her fans to "send help", Stacey struggled to take newborn Belle's passport photos, saying that she was "full-on sweating" without the help of her rarely seen dad, Dave.
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