Becoming mothers was a dream all four Yandle sisters shared as they grew up, but the Taranaki foursome never expected it would happen at the same time.
By some crazy coincidence, sisters Courtnay Neill (28), Ashlee Yandle (26), and twins Sophie Yandle (22) and Hannah Taylor (22) all fell pregnant within six months of each other. And the miracle was completely unplanned.
“We do get stopped when we’re in public, and people joke and think we are friends. Or they say, ‘Oh, you must have all gone to the same party!’” laughs Hannah.
“But no, we are all sisters and we all had babies around the same time. We definitely weren’t planning this at all,” says Hannah. “In fact, if we had tried to plan this, it would probably never have happened.”
The women, who are all very close, laugh as they recall when their pregnancy announcements began to resemble a domino effect, that all came to a head at Hannah’s wedding last year.
“As it turns out, we were all pregnant at my wedding in January,” tells Hannah. “I actually found out an hour before my rehearsal that I was pregnant. Courtnay was eight weeks at that time and Sophie was 28 weeks. We all looked at Ash to tell her she was next and she found out she was already pregnant when she went back home to Melbourne.”
Adds a giggling Courtnay, “We were all up in the spare room at the time and we all started screaming. Mum and Dad came walking up the hallway and were like, ‘Not another one!’”
With three sisters in Taranaki and Ashlee in Melbourne, the foursome work hard to ensure distance doesn’t get in the way of their strong bond. During their pregnancies and after their births, they regularly called each other to get the down-low on what to expect.
Though, they’re quick to point out how different each other’s journeys were, the only similarity was having their babies before their due dates.
“I got married in 2013, so it was probably the expectation that I would have a baby first,” says Courtnay.
However, she faced issues with her reproductive health when she was diagnosed with endometriosis.
After a surgery, she fell pregnant with her son Lachlan, who was born on August 10.
“Motherhood is the biggest challenge I’ve ever gone through,” she says.
“My sisters were a great support and asking Sophie things as well was so valuable, even though our pregnancies were so different.”
For Sophie, being the first to have a baby, a little girl called Harper on April 1, meant she was the guinea pig for her sisters, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“It was cool being the first. I’ve loved helping the girls out when their babies came along. I’ve fielded a couple of phone calls with questions like, ‘Does Harper do this?’ or, ‘Were you like this during your pregnancy?’ And they look at Harper and see what is next for them,” chuckles Sophie.
“I just say to the girls, you do what’s right for you because it’s not all textbook for everybody.”
For Ashlee and her wee girl Koah, born on September 25, raising her daughter in Melbourne has been a struggle but she tries to make it home at least twice a year.
“We’re very close and having babies has made being away 50 million times worse. I want to be home with everyone and I really want Koah to know who her aunties are, so the times we are together are really special.
“As mums, we’re all pretty different too. We have the same sort of values but we do things differently and we each respect that,” she explains.
“I’m sure there’s so many sisters out there who would love to have someone to share things with and talk about their kids. We are very lucky that we’ve gone through it together,” asserts Sophie.
Hannah, who is mum to little Cooper, born on August 30, says the girls try to do everything together when Ashlee is in town and regularly attend the same playgroups.
“There are plenty of aunties to look after the babies,” she laughs. “And it’s great the kids will be able to grow up together.
“My parents were absolutely stoked. They wanted at least one grandchild and they ended up getting four in the space of a few months!”
And do they plan on repeating this effort?
“We do joke about it, but some of us may be ready and some of us may not be,” laughs Hannah. “But I doubt it would happen again!”
