AS SHE handed over her £1 coin in exchange for a pregnancy test, Alice Wheeler barely batted an eyelid.
Having been told that she would never have children of her own, when she began gaining weight at the age of 17 Alice never dreamt it might be because she was pregnant.
“At the age of 12 I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and I was told it was very unlikely that I would ever have children of my own,” she tells Fabulous in an exclusive interview.
“My periods had always been extremely irregular, so if they were late that was never a cause for concern.
“When I started putting on weight when I had my first boyfriend I put it down to my gluten intolerance, but my mates said I should take a pregnancy test to be sure.”
Armed with her pocket money, Suffolk-based Alice purchased a test from Poundland before taking it back to school.
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“I remember squatting on the library toilet with my hands shaking as I stared at those two pink lines,” she recalls.
“It felt like a miracle that I would become a mum, even if I was only 17.
“I had never thought about having my own kids before then, but now that I knew that I would be, I couldn't wait to become a mum.”
But just 18 weeks into her pregnancy, Alice, now 27, was met by tragedy.
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“I woke up experiencing cramps one night but I assumed they were just Braxton Hicks,” she explains.
“But when I began bleeding I realised I was miscarrying.
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“Nothing had ever been picked up during the pregnancy and we still don’t know what caused it.
“It felt like an especially heartbreaking loss as I had never thought I would have the opportunity to become a mum.
“Of course being a teenager there was no one else I knew going through the same thing so I just had to get on with it really.
“I just put my head in the sand – luckily my partner at the time was really supportive but we were both really young.”
Just six months after the loss of her first baby, Alice noticed some very familiar symptoms.
“I started to feel exactly the same, the bloating and sickness but I couldn’t believe it was happening again,” she explains.
“Particularly because I had started taking the pill so that I didn’t have to experience a pregnancy loss again.
“But somehow I was pregnant again and it really felt like it was meant to be.
“The doctors said it would be treated as high risk but I felt like this was a blessing that was meant to be
“At 35 weeks I welcomed my son due to reduced movements but he was totally healthy.”
Following the birth of their son Michael now 8, Alice and her partner went on to have two further ‘happy accidents’ in the form of Tommy-Tyson, 3, and Peaches-Marie, one.
By the time she was 25, Alice was a mum-of-three and had never been happier, but she says not everyone was as happy for her.
“I definitely noticed that people treated me differently because I’m a young mum,” she says.
“Everyone always points out that I have been a mum my whole adult life and say that I will never experience life to the full but that’s just not true.
“There’s a stigma that young parents don’t know what they’re doing and that my parents would end up raising them.
“Most of the criticism I get is from other mums, I don’t know why we can’t pull together and support one another.
“We all go through the same sleepless nights and bad experiences, nobody has a handbook for that motherhood isn’t a competition after all.
“It takes a village after all.”
Alice now shares her experiences as a young mum on her TikTok account @threelittlewheelers where she boasts hundreds of followers.
And while the reaction to her videos is overwhelmingly positive, Alice says there are plenty of trolls who weigh in on her parenting – particularly when it comes to her daughter.
“People always have so much to say about how I parent my little girl,” Alice says.
“For one everyone has a lot of opinions about her name.
“I wanted the most feminine name I could find because I had been a #BoyMum for so long, I wanted the perfect pink fluffy lacy girl.
“I really liked Peaches but I think double barrelled names are even classier so I added her nan’s name.
“It’s not a name for everyone, and I know lots of people who don’t love it and the beauty of it being double barrel is that she can drop either name if she’s not keen.
“It’s more common to have unique names – just look at the Kardashian kids!
“I mean when was the last time you met a baby David?”
But it isn’t just Peaches-Marie’s name that has caused outrage among her trolls.
“I love dressing Peaches up in matching outfits with me and that seems to really offend people – God knows why,” Alice says.
“It’s what I love spending my money on – I can afford it so what’s the issue?
“I, of course, love putting gold hoops in Peaches ears but it was so controversial of me to even pierce them.
“I honestly don’t see why, I wish my mum had pierced my ears when I was a baby so I didn’t need to have it done when I was older.
“After all, if she hates them she can just take them out and they’ll close up, I haven’t tattooed her for goodness sake.”
Alice says that after eight years of parenthood, she has learned to ignore her critics.
“I pay no attention to my trolls,” Alice says.
And luckily because I am younger I will be able to continue to have these experiences with them for far longer.”
“It says so much more about them than it does me, people love to berate younger mums even though we could really do with the support and relationship of other mums.
“We’re in the minority and I’ve found myself being careful what I say around older mums.
“I wouldn’t dare mention that I’d have loved to have gone on a gap year because the mum police will just point out having a baby was your choice.
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“But now I get to have all these experiences with my kids – they’re my best friends and we live life together.
“And luckily because I am younger I will be able to continue to have these experiences with them for far longer.”
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