Beth Crowder, 25, had only planned to try for a second child once her son Brodie was two years old – but she was left stunned when doctors made a discovery after she went to hospital
One mum experienced the shock of her life when she was rushed to hospital with stomach pains – only to find out she was heavily pregnant.
Beth Crowder, 25, from Wirral, had given birth to her son Brodie in August after trying for just two weeks and had planned a two-year wait before having another child.
Yet just eight months after welcoming her first child into the world, the now mum-of-two discovered she was already heavily pregnant with her second child. Beth’s pregnancy went unnoticed until she was 30 weeks along, still slipping into her size-six clothes without a hint of a baby bump.
“It was quite a big surprise,” admitted Beth. “Not only that I was pregnant again, but that I was 30 weeks along. He’d been hidden the whole time.”
“I was having pains in my stomach so I went for a scan and they said I was 30 weeks pregnant. There were no symptoms. A lot of people didn’t believe me at first.”
The unexpected news hit Beth hard, especially on the financial front as she had no savings and found juggling two young children tough. Fortunately, she had kept all of Brodie’s baby gear, needing only to invest in a double pram and a cot for Bailey, who arrived in July, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Despite the challenges, Beth is making ends meet.
“It was hard financially having another so soon. I do live paycheck to paycheck but I make it work. I’m on maternity leave again which was stressful because they were expecting me back,” Beth shared.
Beth, a resilient mum, has opened up about the challenges and joys of having two children close in age. She revealed: “Thankfully I kept hold of all of Brodie’s stuff because I didn’t want to let go of it. His clothes can be passed down to his little brother.”
She also shared the initial struggles of managing two babies: “At the start it was tough because one baby would cry and wake up the other, but when you get a routine going everything just rolls.”
Despite recovering physically from her first childbirth, Beth admitted the mental strain of a second child so soon was significant: “Physically, I was recovered. Mentally, it was a big thing for me.”
She expressed immense gratitude for her support system: “I’m mentally OK now, but it really took a while even once I had Bailey, I was thinking ‘Wow, is this really my life? ‘. If I didn’t have my family and friends around me, it would really be different.”
Beth wouldn’t change the close age gap between her sons, cherishing their bond: “Their relationship is amazing. It was hard for Brodie at first because he was used to it being ‘me, me, me’. He would poke Bailey but now he tries to help. He tries to put his dummy in but it ends up going in his eye. I couldn’t wish for their relationship to be better.”
She looks forward to their future closeness: “I can see how close they’re going to be when they get older. Everything has turned out perfectly. This time two years ago I didn’t plan on having two kids, but I wouldn’t change my life for anything. “.
