After a tough night with her twins and being awake every two hours, we caught up with The Only Way Is Essex star Amy Childs on all things motherhood, since welcoming her third and fourth children into her family.
Amy recently got engaged to 39-year-old businessman Billy Delbosq who she has been dating for two years. The couple welcomed their twins Amelia and Billy in the world on April 6th, 2023.
Billy is also step-father to Amy's eldest two children, Polly (6) and Ritchie (4), and the couple shared the news of their pregnancy with the twins in October 2022.
Still in the baby bubble, Amy beamed with happiness and expressed that she's enjoying every single minute since the twins were born: "I've had Bill with me but when he went back to work a couple of days ago I did feel a bit lost. With twins it's all about routine and you've just got to do it together.
"So when one twin feeds, you have to feed the other. Bill has been off work for four weeks, so we've been doing everything together, and now I'm trying to get into a routine but it's tough." She added, "I wouldn't change it for the world though, not at all."
Amy finding out about being pregnant with twins
Amy, 32, laughed saying she had wished Billy had filmed her reaction to finding out. The couple had an early scan at five weeks where the sonographer mentioned that there were two sacs, meaning that it could be twins, but she also mentioned vanishing twin syndrome, so Amy presumed that there was only one baby.
The couple then went to Croatia where Amy was worried that if it was twins, she wouldn't be prepared for it and with two children already, it would be really hard.
At 8 weeks they went for another scan where they were told there were two heartbeats: "I remember looking at Bill thinking 'I don't know what to do', because even when you find out you're pregnant with one baby you get that feeling anyway, but with twins I couldn't help but think 'I don't think I'm ready for this"
"It was a complete shock and when you start processing it, it becomes more real. But I honestly wouldn't change it for the world even though it's very very tough."
Joking about popping a bit of fake tan on this morning to feel a bit more normal, Amy said: "I looked at myself in the mirror the other day and I thought I don't look like myself anymore, I look so tired!"
Amy on the birth of her twins
With the birth not being that long ago, Amy mentioned that she hadn't gone into too much detail about her birth yet as she feels it will take her awhile to get over it. Her birth was traumatic and she had to have an emergency caesarean.
"I was all planned to have a vaginal birth, that was the whole plan. With twin pregnancies everyone said to go with a C-section because they think it's safest but when I went for my scans the midwife said you can have two vaginal births."
With her older children, Polly and Ritchie, she had two vaginal births, and up until Amy had her waters broken for the twins at 37 weeks and 1 day, it was all going well.
"They were head down which was amazing, then the midwife broke my waters and then said there's something there. Basically it was a prolapse cord, which is very rare, but the midwife told me she could feel the cord coming out so I'd have to have an emergency C-section."
Composing herself to carry on, Amy said: "They said to me if your waters had broken at home, the baby would have starved. So it was really tough, not only traumatic with the C-section but mentally it plays on your mind."
Focussing on the positives, Amy states that both her twins are both here safely and that's all that matters.
Amy on family life and seeing her fiancé, Billy, as a father
Asking how Billy is with her older two children and the twins, Amy beamed: "I say he is like a child himself. He's brilliant with my children Polly and Ritchie and seeing him with the twins, he is incredible. Without him, with the twins I wouldn't know where I'd be, he is so hands on"
"I thought after a week he might be a little bit over it, but we are five weeks in and he's sterilising bottles all the time, he's been doing the night feeds with me, he's just been incredible. I don't tell him this too much but he has been my complete rock."
"I knew he'd be an amazing dad, but I didn't think he would be this good." Amy jokingly said that he'd not paid her to say it, but she genuinely thinks he's been amazing.
Amy went on to add that with having Ritchie and Polly, it has been tough juggling the twin's routine with Polly's schoolwork and the nursery runs with Ritchie, and it hasn't been easy trying to keep everyone happy, but Billy has been amazing in supporting her with it all.
Amy about life as a family of six, and how Polly and Ritchie have adjusted to their new siblings
"It worried me at first because Polly was really emotional. When we filmed her reaction to the twins it was not what we were expecting!"
Amy went on to add that because Polly is still young she thinks she felt a bit put out at first when she saw her mum cuddling the newborns. "That was at first, but the weeks have gone on and she has been helping me, but she is a little bit over it now."
With life getting busier for the family of six, Amy and her fiancé Billy have been juggling getting the five week old twins into a routine with school and nursery runs, as well as trying to spend quality time with Polly and Ritchie.
She added: "It's been tough, I can't sit and say it hasn't been cause it really has. The other Saturday, Polly was emotional, Ritchie was crying because he fell over, the twins were crying and I remember just sitting there and I felt a little bit overwhelmed myself because I had four kids crying. There are days where it's like that"
"They're all really young and there are definitely times where I'm struggling."
Amy mentioned that she is an organised person, so routine is key for her: "With the twins I'm in a good routine, I'm sort of getting there. They're feeding every three and a half to every four hours. I'm writing everything down, when they wee, when they poo, how many poo's they've done. It's really mad but it gets me into a routine I'm proud of myself with the twins, but it can just change."
Amy on bottle feeding her twins
Opening up on her experience with bottle feeding and breastfeeding, Amy said: "I did want to breastfeed. With Polly, I put so much pressure on myself and I remember being pressured, but it didn't happen. I had to wear a nipple shield, my boobs were so sore and not a lot of milk came in."
Describing the emotional experience in the first few days of being home with Polly, Amy mentioned that she was really upset and crying that she was unable to breastfeed when her mum offered her comfort and encouraged her to do what she felt was best.
"She held my hand and said even if you did breastfeed for a couple of days or didn't, as long as your baby is happy that's the main thing. And that's what I go for. Polly was hysterical, she cried the whole day. The minute I went to the bottle she was perfect, she was a happy baby and that works for me"
Amy also mentioned that she gets a lot of comments on her social media, asking why she doesn't breastfeed, and after putting a lot of pressure on herself to with Polly, she now advocates for her choice of bottle feeding. She said "I feel like especially with first baby, some mums feel they can't admit that breastfeeding isn't working for them. When I had Ritchie, the midwife basically put him on my boob and I said no I'm not breastfeeding, I'm going to be bottle feeding. And I've chosen to do the same with the twins."
"My babies are fed, they're very healthy, they're lovely weights and as long as they're okay and they are feeding, I'm happy. There's a lot of women out there now that feel so pressured and are so emotional that they can't breastfeed. But it's up to you what you want to do."
"My cousin is breastfeeding, it's really working for her and she's loving it. The baby is on the boob the whole time, but for me I'm all about routine. With my MAM bottles I know how many ounces the twins have had and yes I would have loved to breastfeed the first couple of weeks but it didn't happen for me, so going onto bottle feeding, it works."
Amy works with MAM and mentioned that she has always used their products with her oldest two, and uses the bottles and soothers with twins Billy and Amelia (Millie). She added that knowing and understanding the products has been really good, especially as Billy suffered with colic and knowing she could use the MAM Anti-Colic teats was a great help.
Cuddling Millie, Amy showed us the MAM Comfort Silicone Soother that was keeping her settled. She joked: "she's my content little girl."
Amy on returning to work and the biggest change she's seen in herself
Joking about being a workaholic, Amy was back filming for her new reality show 'The Twin Life' two days after her twins were born.
"I've enjoyed the baby bubble, but I love to work. My mum and dad are workaholics, they have their own business so I feel like it's been drilled into me. I've had my chill time, I've been in my baby bubble which has been amazing, but I'm ready to get back to work"
Talking about how she feels she's changed since being a first time mum to now, Amy mentioned she was a nervous mum with Polly.
She said: "You bring home your baby and you don't really know what to do. I read every single book and I was on Google all the time. You speak to midwives, I went to antenatal groups. You bring your baby home and think, what do I do?"
"Being a mum of four, I'm very relaxed now, I know what I'm doing, at least I hope I do! Yeah I do, I'm more confident. I remember when Polly was given to me I realised I didn't know how to hold her. When the twins were given to me, I thought right here we go!"
"You can read every book in the world, but you're never prepared for it."
Amy is still filming her new reality TV show Amy Childs: The Twin Life, which is set to air on May 23th, 2023 at 9pm on ITVBE.
Samantha Ball is a Product & Lifestyle Writer for Mother&Baby and freelanced for the website for two years before joining the team full time. She's a mum of two and loves browsing for the best products and cute outfits.