A supermum who has seven sons under the age of seven said she hopes to further grow her family with another set of twins. Jo-anne Ellis gets through 175 nappies each week and needs to do three loads of laundry every day.
She lives in Baildon, Yorkshire, with her partner Charles and despite a hectic family life, the 30-year-old relishes the joys of motherhood. After having an ovary removed ten years ago, Jo-anne, who had dreamed of a big family, was warned she might not be able to conceive, reports YorkshireLive.
But seven years ago she welcomed her first child, Charlie before she got pregnant with another boy, Thomas, who she tragically lost at 36 weeks. When she got pregnant for the third time, she was told she was carrying twins.
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Riley and Lucas were born in 2018 followed by Joey, who is now three and another set of twins Freddie and Ryder who are 18 months. The latest addition to the family was Mikey, who is now eight months old.
Jo-anne said she and partner Charles, 31, are enjoying the house full of boys. The nursery worker told the Mirror : "People think I’m holding out for a girl but I’m honestly not. I love being a mum to so many boys… I can’t see myself with a girl."
Freddie and Ryder were born while a lot of coronavirus restrictions were still in place. The couple decided to keep the twins a secret and to surprise family members after the boys were born.
Jo-anne said: “Because it was lockdown and we weren’t seeing anyone, we decided to keep the fact we were having twins a secret from everyone. It was so hard, but worth it to see the look on their faces.
“We told my mum in a similar way to Monica and Chandler in Friends – Charles walked in carrying one of the twins and said, ‘Here’s your grandson’. Then, a few minutes later I walked through the door with the other baby.”
As there is only a small age gap between the twins and Mikey, many people often assume the youngest three are triplets. Jo-anne, who comes from a big family (her dad is one of nine), said she never imagined she'd have two sets of twins but considers herself "doubly blessed".
When out and about, the large family usually attracts a lot of attention. Jo-anne said: “We get stopped a lot by strangers. People often ask how I do it. But I actually find having twins easier than singletons – both sets have a wonderful bond.
“Because they always have someone to play with, I actually have time to fold clothes, put the washing away and cook." While some might find it stressful to travel with children who are still so young, Jo-anne enjoys it.
This year, the family will be heading to the south of France in their 10-seater Ford Transit custom van. "I love family holidays with the kids and I don’t find it stressful travelling with them," said Jo-anne.
"They have their moments, of course, but I make sure they are entertained with activity packs. We can’t take them on a plane as each child under two requires an adult lap.”
The key to staying on top of a family of this size is being organised, said Jo-anne. The mum-of-seven, who is currently on maternity leave, usually gets up at 6am with two sittings for breakfast.
The youngest four she takes to school in a wagon while the older ones walk. While Charles – who works in distribution – is out of the house during the day, Jo-anne looks after Mikey and does the housework before the 3pm school run.
She said: "I give the older children an early dinner and run them a bath, then around 6pm I pick up the younger ones from nursery and get them fed and bathed too. I do bathing in two rounds – the four little ones all go in the bath together, as do the older ones.
"I try and get everyone to sleep at around 7pm or 8pm. The oldest twins share a room with Charlie, and Riley, Freddie and Joey also share a room. They love it and often curl up in one bed.”
On Mondays, Jo-anne goes food shopping with the youngest four at Costco where she bulk-buys everything. She said the trip usually takes a while, especially when she gets stopped by people asking questions.
"We get a lot of very funny looks," said Jo-anne. "People often assume I’m a childminder."
Before the cost of living crisis, she spent £300 on the monthly shop and around £80 a week on top-ups. Now she needs £450 plus £130 in top ups. She batch-cooks family favourites such as spaghetti bolognese, chicken curry and shepherd’s pie and on Sundays, everyone sits down to eat a roast together.
Jo-anne, who admitted the family home is often “hectic”, said: “Sometimes I think, ‘I can’t wait till bedtime’, but then it’s so boring. There will be plenty of ‘me’ time when they leave home.”
The children are especially precious to Jo-anne and Charles, who has an older son from a previous relationship, because of losing Thomas in 2015. Jo-anne suffered a placenta abruption at 36 weeks and woke up in intensive care to learn that her unborn child had died.
“Time passes so quickly,” she said. “I want to treasure these moments.”
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