Meet the Holly Willoughby-babies

Updated on7th August 2018 at 1.30pm

Holly Willoughby has three mini style clones: meet the triplets giving the This Morning star a run for her money. Their mum, Rebecca Wooldridge, explains all

As Holly Willoughby appeared on screen, I smiled at my handiwork. Holly was wearing a rainbow-print dress to present This Morning on ITV, and my one-year-old triplets were in matching multi-coloured stripes. “Triple the look,” I laughed, posting their picture online.

Ever since my girls, Amelie, Etta and Bertie, were born in October 2016, I’d dressed them in identical outfits, but after seeing Holly’s look of the day on Instagram, I’d been inspired to steal her style for my tiny fashionistas. For me, playing dress-up was more than a bit of fun, it was a luxury I thought I would never get to have.

After marrying in 2006, me and my husband David, 50, struggled to get pregnant. I had a good career as head of student services at Birmingham University, but all I’d ever wanted was to be a mum.

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In 2008, we visited the doctor, who confirmed I had a low egg supply, and it'd be unlikely I’d conceive without help.

IVF was our best option, but specialists only retrieved one egg, which wasn’t viable. We were devastated. We’d only been granted one round of IVF on the NHS, and continuing treatment would cost at least £7,000.

We weren’t rich, but we had savings and owned a newsagents, which David ran, so we could afford it. But the second attempt failed too, and after a third and fourth try, we’d spent almost £40,000, yet still didn’t have a baby.

Then, after five years of trying, a miracle happened when I fell pregnant naturally and on 25 March 2013, our son, Felix, now five, was born.

Felix brought us so much joy and I hoped our infertility battle was behind us, so after five months, we started trying again. But months passed and nothing happened, so David and I agreed to one last shot at IVF.

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In April 2016, we flew to Cyprus for the treatment, which cost another £10,000. Just four days later, three embryos had been implanted and my hormones were raging. A blood test revealed that not only had the IVF worked, but the nurse was convinced there was more than one baby.

Desperate to find out, we booked a scan at seven weeks, and when three silhouettes appeared on the screen, I burst into tears.

“Triplets?” I cried.

I was overjoyed, but multiple pregnancies carried risks. I was monitored closely and given extra scans, where I discovered the babies were non-identical girls.

But at 29 weeks, I woke at 1am bleeding. We were hurried to Worcester Royal Hospital, where I suffered a massive haemorrhage. Rushing me for an emergency C-section, I begged the doctors to save my babies, and on 15 October 2016, I was placed under a general anaesthetic as Amelie and Etta were born, weighing 2lb 8oz, followed by Bertie at 2lb 6oz.

The triplets spent their first 11 weeks in hospital, but the battle wasn’t over. Nine days after coming home, Amelie stopped breathing and spent three days in a coma after contracting paraflu, and Bertie underwent emergency heart surgery in March 2017.