A MUM-of-11 admitted getting the only one-on-one time she gets to spend with her daughter is when she goes in for ear surgery.
Zoe and Ben Sullivan live in their Scottish seaside home with their 11 children: Elizabeth, 14, Olivia, 12, Noah, Evangeline, Tobias, Agnes and Joseph and two sets of twins, Charlotte and Isabelle and Leah and Erin.
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Appearing on 5star’s Me & My 10 kids, the parents employ a military style operation – drawing on Ben’s military training – to run their household.
Despite the pair running a tight ship, they’ve had ups and downs after nearly losing their daughter, Erin, three, when she contracted sepsis.
Ben described their journey so far as a “nightmare”, with Erin given a 50 per cent chance of survival after she developed the deadly condition.
The toddler is having a procedure which will help improve her hearing, with Erin experiencing health problems ever since she and her sister, Leah, were born 10 weeks early.
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Zoe said: “She’s been through so much already. Having to put her under anaesthetic again, it’s always a bit of a worry.
“She’s been through so much already.”
As a result Erin is clingy with mum Zoe, and relies a lot on Leah.
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As she takes Erin to hospital, Zoe gets to spend some quality time with just her, but admits it’s bittersweet.
She said: “It’s kind of a double edged sword, because I get time with just her.”
Ben is left to man the fort at home, but can’t stop thinking about Erin, who is having grommets put in to drain fluid to help with her glue ear condition.
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He said: “It is worrying, it’s in the back of your mind, if she’s ok, if she’s alright, particularly if you’re the one at home.
“You don’t want to be panicking in front of the other children, because they’ll pick up on it.”
It’s an emotional time for Zoe as well, as being in hospital reminds her of the heart wrenching time she had to go home without her twins, as they were too premature.
She recalled: “The day I had to leave the twins in hospital, and come home myself, was probably the worst day of my life I think.
“Leaving them there was just heartwrenching, it was awful. I would never want anybody to go through that.
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“It’s so horrible you feel like you’re leaving part of yourself behind.”
Zoe waits anxiously for news, but thankfully the surgery is a success.
She said: “There’s always good times and bad times.”
And last week mum-eight-Kelly was reduced to tears as she battled to control her growing brood.
We shared how Britain’s biggest family the Radfords learn child number 22 is going to be their 11th girl.
Meanwhile mum-of-21 Sue Radford revealed her ‘crazy’ summer holiday – with £350-a-week food bills and three hours of tidying EVERY night.
