The Netmums Podcast - 2: The beautiful chaos of going from one to two babies with Corrie’s Lucy Fallon

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

Welcome to this brand new miniseries of the Netmums Podcast: Cloud 9, brought to you by Aldi Mamia. Hosted by Louise Burke, the Editorial Director of Netmums, this series is designed for those quiet, early hours when you’re feeding or rocking your little one and possibly feeling like you’re the only one awake. Join us as we delve into the highs, lows, and everything in between of new motherhood. In this episode we’re joined by the fabulous Lucy Fallon, the award-wining actress from Coronation Street and a mum of two little ones. Lucy, 30, shares her journey of navigating motherhood with a newborn and a toddler, revealing the beautiful chaos that comes with welcoming her second child, Nancy, earlier this year. Lucy opens up about the realities of life as a mum of two, the emotional rollercoaster of those early days, and the juggle between parenting and her career. She shares her experiences with guilt, the importance of community support, and the joy of witnessing the bond forming between her children. In this episode: The challenges and joys of having children close in age Strategies for managing the chaos of everyday life with two little ones How to find moments of self-care amidst the demands of motherhood The significance of community and connection with other parents Lucy’s reflections on the pressures of ‘bouncing back’ to feeling ‘me’ again after childbirth There are six brilliant episodes in this special series featuring some of your favourite celebrity mums including Olivia Bowen, Lacey Turner, Katie Thistleton and Charlotte Dawson. Each pod delves into different aspects of early motherhood – they are all conversations that are relatable, comforting and entertaining. Enjoy!  This episode is sponsored by Aldi Mamia, the award-winning baby range loved by parents. Netmums – where real parents share the chaos and the comfort, so you know you’re not in it alone. Follow us on socials @Netmums and website:netmums.com  Proudly produced by Decibelle Creative / @decibelle_creative

Welcome to Cloud 9, the Netmoms podcast mini-series brought to you by Aldi Mammaeer, created especially for those quiet, early hours of parenthood. If you're listening now with a baby in your arms, maybe in the middle of the night, maybe running on very little sleep, this one's for you. Cloud 9 is here to remind you that you're not alone. I'm Louise Burke and I'm the editor-director of Netmums and during this special series, I'll be chatting to some of our favourite well-known mums about the highs and lows of those early days because we know parenting can be messy and magical all at once and we're all in

this together. That's what NetMums is here for. We're here to help. I mean, we even give away free Aldi Mammaia newborn nappies to new moms. Go to netmonds.com now. Today I'm joined by Lucy Fallon, Coronation Street actress, mum of two little ones. We love Lucy's honest approach to motherhood and follow her stories on the realities of life after birth on social. Lucy and her partner Ryan welcomed their second baby Nancy earlier this year. She's joining us to talk about how life has changed now that she's a mum of two. What the first few weeks with Nancy have been really like while juggling two-year-old Sonny and how she's balancing it all. Lucy, welcome to Cloud 9. It's lovely to have you here. Thank you very much for having me. Yeah, we're here to talk about all things

motherhood but in those early days. And I know you've got two very small ones yourself, including Nancy, who you welcomed to the world this year. Congratulations on Nancy. Thank you very much. Thank you. And she's soon to turn one, isn't she? Yeah, she'll be turning one in January, which is crazy because it feels like about three minutes ago that I was pregnant.

I bet it does. And about three minutes before that, you were pregnant with Sonny as well. Exactly, yeah. You had them very close together. I know. I've not done things by half really. Yeah, they've both, I've got them there thick and fast, you know. But, yeah, so first we had Sunny in 2020, in January, 2020.

And then basically two years later, Nancy was born in January 2025. So, yeah, quite a small age gap. I feel like I've spent quite a lot of time either pregnant, breastfeeding, or sort of just looking after. Change your nap is? Yeah, basically, yeah. Did you always plan to have two babies close together or? No, no. Both of them really weren't planned, sorry to say to him.

But they just kind of happened. And it was quite daunting really because I didn't plan on being pregnant that quickly after having Sunny, especially because I'd sort of only just come back to work at Corrie. and then I was kind of telling the producer about nine months after coming back that I'm pregnant, I'm also going to be leaving again so I was really worried about that but that was all fine and yeah

and then I ended up having Nancy but in a way it's quite nice because I feel like we've kind of done it now I don't plan on having any more and even though it's been hard The age gap is difficult and I'll be the first to admit that I have found it hard. I thought I was going to kind of breeze through the second one but I've found because I sort of felt like I breathed through the first time but this second one I found the two of them quite just the age gap just quite difficult. Yeah, very close together.

Yeah, really close together. But I'm slowly starting to see it's like getting slightly easier. now so I'm excited to see them sort of as they get older their closeness yeah so you've got obviously just said two very small kids in the house both of you are working as well yeah what does that look like in your household I'm picturing I'm picturing chaos in a good way in a happy lovely joyful way yeah it is real it is real chaos it takes a lot of like strategic planning because my schedule is really complicated to like we sort of don't find out until a Friday

what we're going to be working the following week. You do get a rough schedule a little bit in advance but it's really hard and then Ryan's schedule is also quite up and down and he has to travel to Huddersfield. I obviously, we live like more Liverpool way. I have to travel to Manchester. So it is quite complicated.

Luckily we have quite a lot of help with Ryan's mum and dad and my mum and dad when they're able to help as well but we also have to put them in nursery so Sunny's been going to nursery for a little bit and just two days

and Nancy started going to the two days when I went back to work which I found really hard because it felt like she was so small and stuff. How old was she then? She was six months when she went and it was the same it's the same nursery that Sunny goes to so we know

all of the people that work there and everything and it's a nursery and Sonny is like loves it and he's like fine there. But yeah, it just felt like, oh, this feels so soon. But it's just the way that we've had to do it. Yeah, it's life. Yeah. We can't rely on on grandparents and stuff all the time where everybody works. Like my mum and dad's work full time. Ryan's my dad work. So yeah, it's just been a it's been a juggle. It's been a juggle. How we love the juggle. So let's take us, if you can take us back to those early days when you brought, let's focus on Nancy this year, when you brought her back home in those early days.

How did that feel like? Because obviously you had Sonny at home already and you had him to look after and give plenty of attention to as well. But you have this lovely bundle of Nancy as well in your arm. Yeah. Yeah, so obviously the best feeling ever coming home, you've got a new baby, and it's just gorgeous. But I did find the fact that we had Sunny as well hard. And it was quite a weird situation for me because of Ryan's job, he didn't get any time off.

So I think I gave birth on the Saturday night. I think it was the Saturday night. And by the Monday, Ryan was back in work. So that kind of, my mum came, she was there, she took the week off to help me out. But that was really hard. And I remember feeling I kept trying not to cry every time he was going to work. I was like, oh my God, I can't believe you're leaving me. And I just found the facts that Sonny, because Sonny still felt like a baby.

I mean, he was a baby. It only just, well, he wasn't even two because he's two at the end of January. and I just found that age gap really, really difficult at the beginning and you know, Sonny needs my attention he needs me he still is in nappies he still feels like a really small baby

and also when we I first had Nancy Sunni was really poorly as well so that like threw that into the midst another spanner in the works another spanner in the works yeah so he was like extra needing me but I just tried to I tried to make it so that nothing really changed for Sonny and he still had me as much as I was like available I was breastfeeding at the time so obviously that added another thing into it but I tried to Nancy can be put down and I'll put

Nancy down here and I'll deal with whatever you need I tried to make it so that nothing really changed for him because he found it really weird at first i think he was a bit like when is this baby leaving who is she going to who is this and when is she going away um so but yeah it was just trying to find like our fee and find and and and it cut it does come i mean after like a few weeks it was like right okay we're in more in swing of things now and yeah i think we're really lucky because we do have quite a lot of help with grandparents and everything and I thought I was quite I really wanted to be able to do it also myself because I knew there was going to there comes a point where you don't have that help as much anymore because people's lives continue as normal

and so yeah I felt like quite quickly I wanted to be right I need to be on my own with them because this is what it's going to be like because Ryan's working you all work also and you do get into the swing of things. It's just a lot harder with two. Yeah, well, I was going to say, I guess when you've just, when you have your first one, when you put the baby down to sleep, people will say to you, don't they, sleep when the baby sleeps. Yeah.

And quite often you don't because you go, actually, I'll do the washing and I'll do something else and I'll sterilise the bottles and all that sort of stuff. But there is that option to maybe like put your feet up when the baby sleeps. But when there's another one or two in the picture, when you've got the baby, but it is a slightly different story, isn't it? Oh, yeah, yeah. And I think that that was the thing. I think I obviously found for the first time hard,

but I also felt like I had time as well. Like when I look back, I had the time because I was able to do the things like wash the clothes and do this and do that. But then I think when you have two, especially when they're so close together, it becomes a bit more complicated to do all of that and it feels like you don't get as much time

and yeah it's like you're not able to just nap you're just always on the go yeah and in the last like bit of being pregnant as well I found that I was like oh my first pregnancy when I was like 39 weeks I was able to just lie on this sofa but no no no no not even another one around yeah so I love I love I follow you on social media and I love all your very sort of real takes on motherhood on socials that you present, which is great.

So you're there in your fluffy dressing gown or your P-Days or like having just sofa cuddles and stuff. And that's really lovely. How do you get go? What I want to ask is how do you get going when you're on your own in the morning? You mentioned your partner leaving to go to work. And if your mother and dad aren't around to help or your in-laws aren't around to help and you're a bit like, don't leave me and you're there and saying goodbye to some to your partner on the doorstep with your big days are all stained on the front with weed to bics or whatever it is and how do you what's your tip would you say how what's your hack to like right I'm going to get going or is it or do you not bother do you go you know what I'm going to go easy on myself and if I stay in my PJs till

midday that's then so big yeah I think it's that I think the the key is to not put so much pressure on yourself to have to get up, get dressed, go and do this, right? We need to go here. I didn't do that. I just was like, if the three of us, me, Sonny and Nancy, are going to stay in what we went to bed in for the rest of the day, then so be it. Because it's hard and it's hard to just be able to say, right, I'm going to get up now. We're all going to get dressed. We're all going to get in the car. We're all going to go here. Everything feels in those early days, in those first few weeks, everything feels like such a task. And, you know, you're recovering from birth. Yeah, because you're either, you're up all night. Yeah, you're either up all night breastfeeding or

bottle feeding, making bottles, like nappy changes in the night and then you're up early because you've got another one or you're up early because your baby's up early. And I don't think that you should feel the need to, right, we need to get this day going and we need to do something. And I think, like, I found that Sonny actually quite liked it. He liked just being in the house. Yeah, playing with his toys and stuff. And actually, when I look back now, even though at the time I probably thought, oh, my God, this is intense and this is hard.

And I did. I did find it hard. But I think when I look back now, it was nice. And it was nice to be able to just say, oh, we're just going to stay here all day because we don't get as many of those days. now that we're sort of 10 months down the land. When you're on the go and you're very much to nursery

or a play group and things like that. Yeah and it's like right we've got to go here. We're going here now. We're going to my mum's this weekend. Like I've got to go to work. You've got... There's so many things that happen now and I think it's actually nice to look back

on those sort of early weeks where it was a bit slower well it was a lot slower and you just feel a bit more or in your little cocoon and in a little bubble and you never ever get that time back either. No.

So I think to slow down and just be, just be, just do what you're doing is nice. And of course you need, like it really is important actually to slow down because if you've had a night of feeds where you've been up sort of some, you know, various from baby to baby. Sometimes it's just one or two feeds

but some people are feeding around the clock through the night. aren't they? Do you have any, how was it for you through the night? With Nancy, she, I was breastfeeding and bottle feeding. So I did a little combination of both. In the night, I was solely breastfeeding, mainly because I didn't want to get up and have to make a bottle. And I just found breastfeeding so much easier. But it meant that she was feeding quite consistent. through the night, and I found that we would end up sort of co-sleeping with each other. And again, when I look back at that, I think, oh, like that was such like, it's just such a

nice time. And I think sometimes you don't think it at the time. But now she's so tired. You know, you've carried a baby for nine, you've created a baby for nine months, carried a baby, and birth to a baby, and now you're feeding a baby. And now you're feeding a baby. but yeah she she was kind of quite regularly breastfeeding throughout the night I think that comes with breastfeeding yeah yeah and and because I did the same thing with

sunny and I exclusively breastfed Sonny for longer he didn't have a bottle until a bit later on but I knew with Nancy I wanted to introduce the bottle because I knew I was going to be going back to work and and also I was going to be on my own with two children quite a lot so I felt like I needed the bottle to be able to pass her over to somebody else and yeah so that's how we kind of did it but um yeah those those first few the first few weeks of of quite intense and I think it's always like I think they say it's always like the second or third day after you get home from the hospital and I remember it particularly more with sunny than I do with Nancy I feel like at there's moments with Sunny that

I really remember more than with Nancy, even though it wasn't that long ago, just because I think with Nancy, it's been a bit more of a blur because it's been so busy. But I do remember a particular time with Sunny, I think it was like on the second day, the second night we were home, and he just would not settle. And I was feeding him constantly. And I was just sobbing. And I was like, I can't believe, is this what it's going to be like forever? And I think I was like, I can't believe it.

And then all of a sudden. and it like gets easier and it gets and you know they have little longer stretches and so then they go back they revert back and sometimes they don't um but yeah I think those nights again like I remember I used to sit on like like chats and forums and sort of read about like what other moms were saying and and it was quite nice like to think oh there's loads of people everybody's going through the same thing right now like I'd put something on my story at like 4 a.m. Being like, is anybody else awake?

And like 300 people, it'd be like, yeah, me, I'm awake. I've been awake for about three hours doing the same thing. And then you're like, oh, okay, we're all doing the same thing. So in those moments, you liked the connection with others and knowing that we weren't alone and there was others going through the same thing. And I had other friends and mum friends also who were like in the same situation as me who were breastfeeding or bottle feeding up in the night and I found comfort in knowing like we get each other we're on the same page I'm not alone in this situation I think that's quite

nice as well and because I think sometimes in those early days you can feel quite lonely and feel like especially as the mom I think sometimes it does feel like especially when it's you feeding it feels like it can be all on you so it's nice to have the confirmation that that other people are going through the same thing and are not with you. It's like a little community connection. It's quite nice. Yeah, no, it feels nice when you're on it together.

So every mum experiences that mix of joy and overwhelm in those early days. Talk to that. Did you find anything especially tough this time with having Sunny already and now you've got Nancy to deal with? Was it the balancing act? Yeah, I think it was, it was, I also felt guilty. I felt guilty when I looked at Sunny and I was

feeding Nancy. I would feel like, oh, I'm not giving him enough attention or I need to, I was so, so like, in my brain set on making sure that nothing really changed for Sunny, which looking back is a bit silly because obviously a lot was changing for Sunny and a lot was changing for everyone but i i i remember feeling just guilty and feeling like oh like i feel bad that we have we have brought this baby into your life when everything was just you were just tolling along with mum and dad and there was and now my my attention felt split did he play up at all or he did a little bit we had a little bit um in the first couple of weeks we had um just quite Hansy moments. He was quite, you know, trying to get our attention by being a little bit

rougher with Nancy. I think, obviously, we kind of nipped that in the bud quite quickly, but his behaviour changed slightly. Yeah, I did notice. And I think he then gravitated more to Ryan. And I remember getting upset because, like, I would go to change his nappy and he'd say, like no I want daddy to do it and it was things like that and I felt like oh no like you I felt like you see me as I'm looking after her I'm looking after and so I'm not going to be looking I'm not going to be doing the same things for you and I but again that just changes that's just his sort of way of navigating the situation as well and now that's I'm his favorite person ever at the moment but that's just the way they have the way that they

change and some next week dad or granddad he's like obsessed with granddad as well so it just changes all the time but yeah I found that difficult I found that quite overwhelming just just the sense of guilt that I felt which

I think quite a lot of people feel the same way like that I've spoken to just and really like you've given them each other which is an amazing thing but at that time in those early days it's new to them It's new to them and I felt guilty.

I felt like I'd really changed his, like, world upside down. In reality, that's not true. And he loves it. He absolutely loves her. Yeah. I think when we're overtired as well, it's quite, and those moments, sometimes you let those negative thoughts come in, like guilt or failure when actually you're doing an amazing, amazing thing.

You've, like, brought two humans into the world and you're feeding them. but I think, you know, we all suffer, have times where we suffer from that sort of feeling and like the hormones and everything and how you feel after you've given birth and everything sort of regulating itself and going back to what it was like before but then there is no going back to what it was like before you just evolve as it goes on and I saw I think it was like Haley Bieber or something said something recently about how there is no going back to like who you were before but actually who you are now is like a better version of yourself and I do feel like that um as well I feel like a better version of myself oh that's

lovely yeah um your so you've got your birthday I think this week haven't you Thursday 30 on Thursday so you've had two two kids in your 20s which in these sort of modern times that been, is seen as, you know, fairly young to have kids. Yeah. I noticed that Molly May spoke a few days back as well about how she's had a baby young and maybe, you know, she thinks that maybe she should have waited and just had a bit of time. Just her and her partner before having a baby. I don't know I think she's saying that entirely, but, you know, it's a thought.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was it having babies young always something that you wanted or? No, no. And actually, I was, me and Ryan hadn't been together for that long before I got pregnant with Sunny. We'd only been together for a year and a half. Yeah, about a year and a half before I was pregnant with Sunny. And I think that was never the plan. I was never somebody that was like, oh, I'm going to have kids young. I'd never really, I've got loads of nephews. So I've always been around babies and children. And so it's. never been something that I've been like I want kids like straight away and I knew I always wanted them in the future but it wasn't like the immediate future when me and Ryan were first together but I think we spoke about this recently because of Ryan's job and his career it's quite short and you know when he's 35 or whatever he'll probably retire right he doesn't have so much time in this time to go and do those things so we the things that we probably want to experience

as a couple that we haven't yet done will do once right yeah yeah and i think that's fine we've just kind of done it the other way around and actually i feel like we've had children quite young and also like quite early into our relationship but it's made our relationship so much stronger and so much better and I think we're closer than ever because of them as well and then I think

in the future when we've kind of got out of this baby phase and the kids are a little bit older we can do all of the things that we sort of missed out on in the first years of our relationship because we couldn't have really done those things

anyway because of commitments to careers and stuff like that. So actually, it's worked out quite well for us. Perfect. Yeah. And I just think it's, yeah, like we've kind of, we've done it now. We've got a boy and a girl, like we're not planning on having anymore.

And now we're just sort of on the home straight. I don't trust you two saying you're not having anymore. You keep, nobody does. All these unplanned babies. Nobody does. Honestly, everyone's like, yeah, whatever. I know. Yeah, yeah.

I'll wait for the next piece of news in the papers. Yeah. We've talked about guilt and sometimes pressure to do everything right. But there's also a feeling sometimes that there's quite a bit of pressure on mums. I hate the phrase, bounce back. But there's a pressure sometimes on to present ourselves as back to normal. You know, back in the working world, back to normal. This is me.

I mean, we've said before on your grid, you look stunning in so many of your. pictures as well. I think also probably a positive of being a younger mum as well. You're just a bit more stretchy and stretched back into shape. But how do you feel about motherhood and playing out being a mum and a new mum when you are on social media, you're in the public eye. But I assume you also follow lots of people on social media and go all through various accounts as well. Do you ever suffer from comparison syndrome with other mother influences or celebrity moms or are you quite good at self-regulating that? I think definitely the first time. I think after having Sunny, I hadn't really felt, obviously, because I'd never been pregnant

before, but I'd never really felt that sort of pressure to have, to look a certain way or to get my body back. I didn't know what that meant. And I think after I'd had Sonny, I kind of saw different influences or people on social media that like looked unreal after having a baby, like quite quickly. And I was like, wow, I really don't look like that. Yeah. And by the way, I don't want any, I really don't agree with anyone judging anyone on what they look like after having a baby. No, absolutely. And I felt like I don't, I don't really look like that. And then this time round, I feel like I put loads more pressure on myself to bounce back.

Like, we need to ban that phrase. I know, I hate that phrase. I absolutely hate that phrase. Yeah. Yeah. But I felt much more pressure to do it this time. And I think I can only sort of see that now later as it's laid to. on, but I feel like I even felt the pressure when I was pregnant.

I felt the last few weeks of being pregnant. Yeah, I kept thinking, oh my God, I'm going to have this baby soon and I need to stop thinking about what I'm going to do, how I'm going to, what I'm going to do after. And obviously, I feel quite weird about that now because obviously that is not the thing that anybody should be thinking about. And I think, I don't know whether it was because I knew I was. going to be going back to work quite soon so I knew I was going to be on screen and so yeah I did I felt it a lot more this time and I think I've also done a lot more to try and and get back to feeling

myself because I think it took me quite a while after Sunny and to feel like myself again because I I didn't I didn't really do anything I didn't exercise or anything after for a while And I think it wasn't until just before I found out I was pregnant with Nancy, which was like a year and a bit after having Sunny that I felt like me again. So then when I found out I was pregnant with Nancy, it was a bit of a shock to the system because I thought, I have only just started to feel like myself. And now I'm pregnant again. And which is sad in a way because I thought, oh my God, I feel like I've just got like my body back to how it used to be. And now I'm going to be pregnant again. And which is so sad in a way to think that, like, that's how our brains think.

Yeah, are wired. Yeah. To think, oh, like, what's my body going to be like after having a second baby? And I think that is why this time it's been so important to me to feel like myself again. But it's just, it's so much harder. I think you, your body obviously changes because you've, growing a human being and everything changes you know your boobs literally every single part of you changes and instead of worrying about that we need to embrace the facts that we have grown a

human being we've taken care of a human being they're healthy and and everything and that's the most important thing but it is it is weird how I felt so much more pressure this time and I think now that I can see that and I can see like oh yeah that that is how I felt but um it's it's just not the most important thing and I wish I tell myself that now 10 months on that you just kill just calm down yeah you got plenty of time to go to Pilates in another year's time yeah no I know instead of popping Pilates like they're in M's at the moment I'd like that's Because also if you're up all night as well, your body's tired, right? Yeah.

And like we said, you know, what you've put your body through, it needs to recover as well. It's important that it recovers, especially when you've been having two babies close together as well. Yeah. No, absolutely. So we all, we're talking the other day amongst the mums in the office, but those new mum moments where you do, you sort of, they feel like huge moments at the time. but then you laugh later about something that you achieved or something silly you did to have a small win one day. Is there anything from those early days or early days where as a new mum

you might have, I don't know, really been proud of yourself or something but actually you look back and go, oh my God. I think one of the biggest ones for me was getting them both in the car. So I Huge mum win That's one of the top ten It's a real big one So I remember

The first time that I did it I think I was only going to my mum's house And I remember being like Right How do I do this? Do I get the toddler in first So that he's like strapped down Do I carry the baby

The amount of strategic thinking That goes off Yeah And also then it was all the stuff because we were going to stay at my mom at the night. So it was all the stuff as well. So, like, I was like, right, I'm going to put the baby in the car seat. Get all of their things in the car.

The toddler's over there. Right, now I'm going to get the toddler in the car, strap him in, then get the baby, the seat in the car. And then I was like, oh, my God, I've done it. And then I thought, oh, the dog, then get the dog, put the dog in the car. And then I was like, oh, my God, I've done it. They're in the car. We've gone.

I might have left the door unlocked, but we've gone. we've done it and I remember they're being like wow that was that was amazing what I've done is amazing I can go for a lie down now yeah I'll just zone out as I'm driving but yeah the the car is a big one yeah and you mentioned um like obviously going away for the night to your mums and things like that but do you did you find in those early days moments where you could sort of look after yourself as well and and how did you did you do that if you did if you did find those moments not everyone does but you did i know i think they were quite few and far between but i think it was the the biggest things for me was probably

having my mum there or when ryan was home being able to go and have a bath or just go and have a long shower on my own without somebody bringing a baby upstairs like the baby's crying now um so So, yeah, I think having my mom or Ryan when he was home from work there to be able to go and have like a nice bubble bath is like a moment for a second. I always did my skincare as well. I always did it. That was your thing. That was my thing. Like when we went up to bed, Ryan would have Nancy.

Yeah. Yeah. Ryan would be with Nancy. Sonny would be in his own bed and I would have that like 15 minutes or. whatever, maybe not even that 10 minutes to do my skincare because that was like I am just taking this little 10 minutes to do that. Yeah, it's your self-care routine. Yeah, because I do my skincare every night and that's what I did. So I suppose that is one of them. I did make sure that I did that for myself every day. I used to say to friends when I had a second pregnancy

and I said, don't get me any more candles. I've got so many candles from the first page. But I used to say post shower gel is like the new candle. So it's like a really lovely shower gel because I'd never had time for a bath because I had twins. So it was always shower. Oh, wow. So that to me was like, yeah, the big win for me was like a really lovely shower with some really nice smelling shower gel. I was like, yeah, the Redox took a back seat and we got some last. The Redox has been binned.

We've got the Byredo. Yeah, exactly. And how does, amongst all the chaos, I know you say Ryan works and sort of, and is away with work quite a bit. But how does he support you as a partner through all this? To be fair, he is amazing. He is really supportive. And he, I think a big thing he did was kind of take the reins with Sunny, even though I really tried my best to do as much. as I could with Sunny, he sorted everything. He would put him to bed and do everything with Sonny.

He would take him out. And that was quite nice as well because then I could just have some time, just me and Nancy and also sleep because newborns sleep quite a lot in the day, not really in the night. No, so you can have a little cat nap. But he is, he's an amazing dad. And he's really, I hate that word hands on as well. because it's like, well, they are your children.

He is a dad. He is a dad. But he is, he's stuck in. He's just, he's just what he is supposed to be. I feel like we give them praise for doing a job that they are supposed to do. It's a 50-50 thing, even though I know that it's not all the time because sometimes as a mom, you do feel like the default parent. Yeah. And I do feel like that. sometimes but he does his fair share of the work and that's how it should be so i don't think

that they should get praised for that so ryan you're not being praised by me yeah you're just being a dad that's what it is they're both our children and we both look after them and but he he is and he's particularly good with sunny him and sunny are besties they've got a good bond they've got a good bond yeah but then you can tell, I think as soon as Nancy starts, like she is doing already and you can see and I'm thinking, you two, don't be thinking that you can have the same as them, Nancy. Don't leave me out here. Don't leave me out. I've put all the working in those early days. It's not three against one here. But it's definitely going to happen because it happened with Sonny. Daddy's boys and girls, that's what they turn into. When you start becoming a parent,

that starts from the moment you sort of fall pregnant, I think. Obviously, the whole journey is full of surprises. But is there anything still today that surprises you about motherhood? I think it's the fact that you can't just go and do stuff. I know that that was kind of a given, but I don't think I ever thought about that before. Like, when I was pregnant with Sunny, I never thought about, you know, just going to get your nails done or just pop into it. the shop you can't do things and especially now it's like i can't if i need to go to we've got no milk right we need i need to take you to the shop and then i'm looking at them both thinking

how am i doing that how am i taking you both to the shop i think that surprises me every day i sometimes i don't know why i just forget that i can't it's it's it's hard work trying to just do things especially when you're on your own i think you really normal things just normal things you can't and i've struggled with that at first with with sunny just popping pop in to get your nails done or doing the thing like right i need to get my hair done okay but somebody's will is going to have to look after him for like five hours that's how long it takes to get your hair done it's all things like that i used to take them both to the hairdresser with me until they got bigger and would move around because at first

the newborns it's like again you can just hold them put them down and But, yeah, I think it's things like that. And I still get surprised by that now, I think. Oh, yeah. It does get easier, though. No, I won't because you, I can't, with you too, we'll just have to, we'll just have to order it. We'll order the milk. I know, I was just going to say, but there is always Uber Eats or something.

Yeah, we just have to deliver some whole milk. It's ridiculous. And just thinking about your career and obviously the balance of that with motherhood as well. because you've had an incredible acting career in Coronation Street that has spanned, what, a decade now? Yeah, it'll be 11 years in January. Yeah. And now you're a working mum of two kids and with a fully-fledged career.

How do you see the balance of work and life panning out for you? Like, now you're in it and you're in that, juggling that balance. Has your attitude towards work changed or what you feel that you can aspire to have changed? How do you feel about that balance now? I think if anything, it's made me feel like I want to do more and achieve more and say yes to more things, say yes to more opportunities, because I think if anything, I, at the moment and in a few years to come,

I will be the role model for my children. And although I want to be present and there for all of the moments, I also want to show them that you can do things and achieve things. And I'm not just a mum. That's the thing. I feel like I've always felt like that. I have a lot of different things going on. I have a lot of interesting things about me than the fact that I am just a mum.

And obviously, that is one of my most important roles, if not the most important roles. however my career is also important to me so I think I am just if anything I want I want to say yes to more opportunities and do more things because I want them to one day be like oh my god wow you did that and that's amazing and I want to feel like I can make them proud in some way and I think I've done amazing things I've done like loads of amazing things but I also want to carry that on. I don't want to just, you know, and it's also my career, I don't know when this could end at any point. It's not, it's not guaranteed. Where it could go next. Exactly. It's not guaranteed that they won't kill me off next year or whatever. You just don't know. So I just feel like I've also got to

grab the opportunities as well and keep going. So yeah, I think it's, it's, yeah, it's a good, it's, it's a good, like role model to my children as well to show that I've carried on. Yeah. I'm carrying on. Keep going. You mentioned then about those not missing it as milestone moments. We've called this podcast, The Cloud 9 podcast, because it's sort of celebrating those without sounding to cheesy, magical moments,

those precious moments. Could you recall some of those moments in those early days or even something that happened this week where between the kids what have they said to you or what have they said to each other that's made your heart like just swell and made you reminded you why you've become a mom yeah sonny has recently become just he's become really really kind and nice to nancy and he if she starts crying and i'm doing something he'll say he said the other day don't worry Mommy, mommy's coming back in a minute. And I was just like, oh, Sonny, that is because obviously I must say that.

I must say, like, oh, it's okay. Mommy's coming back in a minute. So he's picked that up and he'll, like, stroke a head. Got that security. Okay, Mommy's coming back in a minute. And I was just like, Sonny, that is just unbelievable. I thought, wow, that's just so cute. And then he'll snatch his Lightning McQueen car off her and say, you can't play with that.

And then it was like that. Okay, never mind. But we take it. We take it when we see it. Just the nice moment. Absolutely. Absolutely. And if you were to talk to a younger Lucy who was coming home with a newborn from hospital

and heading home with that newborn in the car seat. And what would you say to the younger Lucy in those early days? I would say don't put too much pressure on yourself to try and find yourself again and joy the now because in 10 months' time she's going to be crawling

and it's going to go by like that for both of them it's going to go by like that and I think just don't put pressure on yourself to be a certain way or to look a certain way and just enjoy it and soak it all in because it just goes by so quickly and next they're three and one and then that's it and it's over.

They'll just keep growing, yeah. Yeah, it's over. Those early days are such, it's such a small window. It's just an intense small window, isn't it? Yeah, and when you're in it, when you're in it and it's hard, you think it's going to last forever because it's the most important thing in the world that is going on to you at that moment and you think it's going to last forever. and they're only eight newborns for eight weeks.

That is such a short window of time. And then straight away, they start smiling and laughing. And then it just progresses and progresses and progresses until, you know, if you could see a picture of them when they're first born to a year later, it's huge. It's like the most amount of growing. And it just, they don't stay. Yeah, I'd say my camera role is probably populated with.

pictures taken from that first year. I mean, so many sleeping baby pictures. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing with it. Yeah. But in that first year, like you said, there's so much change. I think those early days as well almost felt like a parallel universe that you, you know, you sort of, like you mentioned before that time of being in that sort of cocoon, which is so lovely.

But I guess it can be interpreted feeling a little bit isolated for some people. if they're used to being around, like at work, around their people or friends. Yeah. But I think it's important what you said. Like, it's such a special time that you'll never ever. Nothing's ever going to match that time ever again. Never. Unless you have another baby, Lucy.

I can't see it. Oh, honestly. Louise, I cannot see it. Next January. Yeah, it's January. Yeah, it's January. I'm like, oh. Just pop another.

on out but I think that it's such a euphoric time that you will never ever experience anything that's similar again I think that genuinely this is sounds quite crazy when what I'm about to say but the actual like birth for me makes me sad that I'm not going to like get that experience again again nothing will ever ever ever ever come close to that and those first even the there's week after where you're not really sleeping but like people are coming round to see your baby and everything feels like it's the most important thing in the world and it's kind of like everything else has stood still around even though you don't read the news and you don't like you don't know what music's happening and things like that it's just you're so

focused aren't you this is the most important thing and nothing ever will come close to that experience ever again and so I think if anybody is listening who is about to become a mum or is about to become a mum again I think it's just so important to I know everybody says it and it feels

really cringe and cliche but you just need to cherish those first moments and those first few weeks because I cannot physically believe that that for me was 10 months ago I can't believe it

because it feels like a minute ago and it wasn't and yeah and it just it just goes by so quickly and you can never get it back that's it no I know but you have got a gazillion pictures on your camera although yeah a lot of the videos which over the years like for me my oldest is 30 now like all those moments keep showing up and you sort of go oh my god I know even videos of me giving birth and pictures of me giving birth because I said to Ryan the second time because I didn't have any pictures because I was like taking to theatre and stuff with Sunny

but I said this next time I want if everything's going fine I want videos and I want pictures of me actually giving birth because it's become such a blur that you can't remember it and sometimes I'll just go back and watch those videos and see those pictures and you can literally see the span of like the whole thing happening because it's amazing

what us women can do. And just going back to what you were saying about that connection and community, it's like it's amazing what us women can do. And that's where we, that we've got this instant connection with each other. Because we've all done it and we've all been there. We've all been through that initiation process in those early days and, you know, long nights and the sleepless nights. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it is, it's, it's, it is nice that like I always instantly. feel that when I meet somebody who's a mom and like you're talking about your kids or whatever and I'm like well done well done we're in the club we're in the same club with give and birth how unreal are we and we're great children we're amazing we're amazing we are Lucy you're amazing thank you thank you so much for your time today and it was lovely talking to you about your little ones it's been lovely to chat thank you so much Yeah, it was great to hear all those stories as well. Oh, thank you.

No, that was lovely. I've got to feel a little emotional now. I need to go home and hug my babies. Go for a little nap. Yeah, I might do, actually. Oh, thank you so much. Lucy, thank you so much for joining us today and for being so open about the highs and lows of life as a new mum of two.

To everyone listening, whether you're up feeding, winding, or finally grabbing a quiet moment, remember you're not alone in this. We're all figuring it out together. If you'd like to read more from Lucy's chat, head over to netmums.com where you'll also find tips, advice, and your chance to claim a free pack of Aldi Mammaia newborn nappies.

Cloud 9 is brought to you by Aldi Mamia, the award-winning baby range, loved by parents and proud to support yours. Thank you.