Social media feeds are often clogged with posts from smug parents boasting about their seemingly picture perfect family life. But this father of four wants his followers to understand the practical realities of raising infants, and he is in a better position than most to provide guidance.
For Alex Lewis, 34, and his wife, Charlotte, 32, welcomed triplets Annabella, Florence and Lottie and are also parents to a three-year-old boy, Henry.
Accounts worker Alex, from Essex, documents the ‘highs and lows’ of life with his newborn daughters – from messy feedings to rare ‘me time’ – in hilarious pictures posted on Instagram.
He said they still manage to have a coffee in Costa every week, visit the sea side, go shopping, go out for dinner as a family and have even taken the girls to Centre Parcs.
“It has been amazing to show other parents that you don’t have to live at home when you have multiples, trips out are possible.”
The family has relied on the support of friends and family, who have given away old clothes and high-chairs to save the Lewises on the cost of their bigger family.
Their weekly grocery price has increased significantly since having the triplets, but Alex maintains that it is still not as high as most people would assume.
He said: “We spend £50 on milk, £30 on nappies and as the girls all have colic, we are spending another £50 per week on Gripe water and Colief for them.
“It all adds up but we wouldn’t change anything for the world, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
Alex was left dumbfounded when he found out his Charlotte was expecting not one but three babies. After spending £8,000 on IVF, the couple, who had battled to conceive for three years, believed that their dream of having a child would come true. They were given the option of terminating two of the foetuses to give the third a better chance, but refused to choose between their children.
And on April 6, 2017 Annabella Rose and Florence Violet – who were identical twins, and their sister, Lottie Bluebell, were born.
Alex said: ‘I was so overwhelmed when they all arrived, it made all the weeks of worry worth it.
“We never imagined we’d actually be lucky enough to have all three. I quickly sold our car for a six-seater and we ensured their bedroom was ready.
“We’ve only got a three bedroom house so we’ll need to move once the triplets get bigger.”
The father-of-four admitted living with twins is ‘hard work’, with the all three girls needing a feed and change every few hours, but said he ‘wouldn’t change it for the world’.
“I will post images just of me enjoying some ice cream or running with the dog while the girls are asleep,” he said.
Alex hopes to continue updating his social media page every day to continue documenting his triplet’s lives.
He said they were lucky to have so many supportive friends and family who have either given away old clothes or high-chairs – which has helped massively with the cost of everything.
“It’s important to show people the highs and lows, having triplets is relentless and Charlotte doesn’t have time to do anything during the day. So when I come home from work we are able to swap shifts so she can have some time to herself.
“That’s one of the main messages I like to share, everyone needs their “me” time even if have three newborns.’
“The couple are now hoping to have another child in a few years’ time.”
Alex and Charlotte haven’t been put off having any more kids in the future and have even planned to have one more.
Alex added: “We opted to have two embryos implanted last year as we wanted to double our chance of it working.
“But we had never imagined one of those would split and form three babies.
“We have two twins and one non identical baby which is Lottie, she was the smallest.
“Despite now having four kids, we are hoping for another in a few years’ time.”
