Now a mum of four, Carolyn McMinn didn’t initially see herself as the motherly type, though her husband, David, was confident that she would come round to the idea in time.

“David and I met on the train to university when we were both twenty. I was very focused on completing my degrees, and I wouldn’t move in with him until I’d finished my exams and secured a graduate job.”

“Initially, I completely rejected the idea of marriage and kids. I was very career minded and worked for a large bank, with lots of opportunities to progress up the career ladder. David has always been able to see the big picture and he just waited until I was surrounded by all our friends getting married and having babies.”

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, the family moved to Camberley two years ago, and they had given away all their baby things prior to the big move. “My third pregnancy had been very tiring and I had dreadful varicose veins and carpal tunnel, as well as Ashleigh arriving five weeks early. Three girls under three was sheer madness – we decided that our family was big enough.”

However, fate stepped in and in Autumn 2009 Carolyn had a little surprise. “It was only after eating French toast with bacon and maple syrup at Fego’s for the second week in a row, that I gave serious consideration to the fact that I might be pregnant. I bought a test kit on the way home and did it straight away. I was in complete shock and disbelief!”

Nine weeks into the pregnancy, the couple almost had another surprise. “I had severe back, side and referred shoulder pain – apparently classic symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy. I was rushed off to hospital to have everything checked out.  It turned out to be a pinched nerve – nothing to do with the pregnancy at all!  But when I was having an ultrasound, the sonographer thought she saw twins. David and I looked at each other and grinned. I whispered to him ‘call the asylum now’ and he replied ‘for you or me?’. In the end, it turned out to be an echo – so no twins, though I know we would have coped.”

David and Carolyn were also excited to discover that the new baby was a boy. “We thought it would be another girl, given that we had three daughters already. When the student sonographer told me it was a boy I didn’t believe her. I asked her supervisor to check! We were pleasantly surprised, to say the least. The girls were hilarious – naming him everything from Alex to Elephant and all sorts of funny names in between.”

Carolyn found this pregnancy easier than her previous ones, and her labour was pretty speedy too. “After some gentle hip swinging - don’t knock it! - the labour was short and very intense – I flattened the batteries on the TENS for the first time ever. The midwife was caught unawares because my transition was very short - it lasted a couple of minutes, and after another few minutes of pushing James was born. David was wonderful, as usual. He’s very intuitive, and he gave me cold water, back rubs and encouragement when I felt as though I couldn’t go on. It was all over within a couple of hours. I was in shock, specifically about what to do with a boy, after three girls!” 

Carolyn and baby James spent their first night together on the post-natal ward. “With six mums and six new babies, I had more chance of sleeping in the middle of the M3 during rush hour!” But the next day they were able to go home, where Carolyn’s mother and David were on hand to help out. “Mum was amazing – she took over the running of the house to let me recover, and never worried about anything. David was still getting over a serious bout of pneumonia, so we spent a lot of time resting together.”

Carolyn had some initial issues with James’s feeding.  “I couldn’t believe it, because I’d had no trouble with the girls. James wasn’t attaching well and it took ten days to establish breastfeeding properly, with support from midwives and lactation consultants. I ended up buying formula and a bottle because he was so hungry and frustrated.”

But other than that, James has slotted in to McMinn family life with relative ease. “He just loves the girls – I think he’s worked out that there are three of them and that they all play with him in slightly different ways. David’s Dad lives with us, so James is very fortunate to have a grandparent on hand. He loves to jump up and down and play around with Pappy. He also ‘talks’ to my Mum and Dad every Sunday on Skype.”

“Despite my initial reservations about going back to nappies and broken sleep, it feels as if we’ve always had four children. We’ve adapted, and he’s had to fit in to our lifestyle – as did all the girls. Sure, there’s some give and take, but we still go camping, and we spent most of last summer touring around Europe. Life is short – make the most of the time you have!”