A UTTOXETER couple have admitted it has been a ‘rollercoaster’ 12 months after their three bundles of joy celebrated their first birthday.
Former town crier Henry Clayton and his wife Helen welcomed triplets on Leap Year Day last year and have seen their lives completely transformed by the presence of their three bouncing baby boys.
The triplets – identical twins Edward and George and their brother Arthur – were born six weeks early at Burton’s Queen’s Hospital on February 29 last year.
Their parents, of Wood Lane, decided to celebrate the boys’ birthday on Friday, March 1 and told the Advertiser how the first 12 months had gone.
Mrs Clayton said: “It has been a massive change. It has been really hard work and will continue to be tough but we have got through the first 12 months which is said to be the toughest.
“Nobody can tell you what it is going to be like.
“A lot of people were asking in the later stages if we were prepared but you just can’t be.”
The couple, who married only a month before the births, said they have been ‘really lucky’ with the amount of help they have received.
Mr Clayton said: “We have had such a lot of support from family and friends so we have been really, really lucky.
“Helen is a member of The Heath Chorus choir in Uttoxeter and they have all become like 40 extra aunties!”
Mrs Clayton said the support has been ‘invaluable’ as sometimes they need ‘eyes in the back of our heads’.
She said: “We have been really fortunate with the help we have had.
“From day two when we had the first visit from the midwife the health visitors and midwives have been brilliant, particularly Julie and Sarah at Balance Street practice.
“Homestart in Uttoxeter also arrange for a volunteer to come which is great as any extra pair of hands or eyes takes a bit of pressure off.
“We’ve also had so many donations of clothing and things like that from the ladies in the chorus.
“We are managing to get out and about now with the buggy – we go out around the racecourse and they know us now and give us lots of encouragement and support when we go.”
Mrs Clayton said she is hoping to go back to work as a teacher soon but admits sheer logistics are a major challenge.
She said: “We have a relative’s 80th birthday coming up and just the logistics of how to get us there and the boys and all their stuff is difficult.
“It can be wearying but when you look at them you know you wouldn’t change it for the world.”
