”My boyfriend was sleeping with another woman while I was in labour”
coral Gibb, 24, from Lowestoft, suffolk, tells how she discovered her partner’s infidelity an hour after giving birth to their second child
Weaving my way through the packed nightclub, I headed for the bar. A man next to me looked me up and down. “Your eyebrows are too big,” he said. “What a cheek!” I thought, fuming. But before I could open my mouth to tell him I was going for a Cara Delevingne look, he walked off.
I forgot all about him until I spotted a tall, good-looking guy a couple of weeks later in the same club. It took a moment before I realised who he was.
He marched over, but before I could say a word he grinned. “I’m Steven and you’re staying with me,” he said with a wink. I just melted and found myself saying, “OK then.”
Steven Lee and I started chatting and it turned out he wasn’t rude. He was really funny.
Before long we were a couple, even though at 27 he was 10 years older than me. We set up home together and life was great, until two months later I started to feel unwell and exhausted all the time.
“Maybe you’re pregnant,” my mum Nicola, 53, said. A test confirmed it. I was in absolute shock, but Steven was excited. He pampered me while I was pregnant and was with me as I went into labour. But at the hospital things started to go wrong. As doctors and nurses rushed around me, I passed out.
When I came round, Steven was next to me holding our baby boy in his arms. He looked terrified. “You almost died,” he said. “We were so scared.” He told me how I’d haemorrhaged during the birth and needed four blood transfusions to save my life.
Back at home, Steven looked after me and our baby, who we named Steven Jnr. He was great, but as soon as I was strong enough, I took over the nappy changes, feeds and baths.
I was so busy looking after little Steven that I hardly noticed his dad wasn’t around as much. Then one day he went out and didn’t come back for two days. “Where have you been?” I demanded when he finally turned up. “I was staying with friends,” he said. “I would’ve called, but my phone died.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but something had happened to take my mind off my doubts. On my 20th birthday in October 2015, I got a brilliant present – I was pregnant again. We discovered we were expecting a girl. Steven Jnr was just over a year old by now and I started sorting through his things so I could sell them and buy new ones for the baby.
His buggy was too small for him, but it would be too big for a newborn. It was still worth quite a bit so I put it up for a sale on a local buy and sell Facebook page.
A woman named Julie* got in touch and ended up coming over to our place with her boyfriend to take a look. “I’ll have it,” she said. She handed over £100 and left, but a few days later Steven found some spare parts for it. “I’ll see if Julie wants them,” I said, messaging her. Julie did, so Steven went to meet her to give her the parts.
A few days later, I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw that Julie had liked one of Steven’s posts. He’d posted a quote about being loyal to your woman and Julie had put two laughing emojis underneath. I prickled. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked him.
He looked confused. “She’s just being friendly after we sold her the pram,” he said. But whenever he posted a comment, Julie would respond. I knew something wasn’t right, but Steven insisted it was nothing. “You’re being paranoid,” he told me.
Growing suspicions
A week before my due date, I was craving some sweets so he popped to the shops to get some for me. He didn’t come home. Hours went by and I started to feel cross. I couldn’t believe Steven had vanished so close to my due date. Then I felt a twinge. There was no sign of Steven so I called the midwife who explained I was in slow labour. “You have a while to go,” she said, “But call me when your contractions get more frequent.”
I rang Steven, but he didn’t answer, so I texted him. “I’m having the baby.” No reply.
Frustrated, I went to stay with Mum so she could help with Steven Jnr. The next morning my contractions were much stronger so I popped back home with my stepdad John to pick up my hospital bag. But as I walked through the front door, I heard Steven running across the bedroom floor. He appeared at the top of the stairs looking flustered. “Where have you been?” I demanded. He looked sheepish.
“I met some friends for a drink,” he said. I didn’t have the energy to argue. “I’m going to see the midwife now,” I said. “Will you look after Steven?”
He was still at the top of the stairs. “No problem,” he smiled. “Now off you go, you don’t want to be late.”
John and I set off, but on the way to see the midwife and pick up my notes, it dawned on me that Steven had seemed very keen to get me out of the house. I wondered why and then
‘He went out and didn’t come back for two days’
a terrible thought struck me. Was there someone there with him?
I pushed it away. I had the baby to think about and I didn’t want to feel stressed. The midwife examined me and said the baby wouldn’t be coming any time soon. I went home and crawled into bed exhausted, while Steven looked after our son. I was in such pain from slow contractions, I couldn’t focus on anything else.
When I went back to the hospital with full-blown contractions three days later, Mum came with me. It all happened very quickly and by the time I got to the labour ward, I was pushing. “Call Steven,” I told Mum through gritted teeth. “He should be here.”
But she knew the baby was coming and wouldn’t leave my side. And she was right as the next minute I had my baby, Bella.
An hour later, Steven turned up. “She’s beautiful,” he said, cuddling her. I was so thirsty. “Please can you get me a cold drink?” I asked him and watched him leave the room.
He’d been using my phone for a few days and he’d left it behind. While he was gone, I started scrolling through it and spotted a familiar name – Julie.
The Ultimate betrayal
But she hadn’t been texting me. She’d been messaging Steven. As I read through their conversation, anger pulsated through me. It was clear what they’d been up to behind my back and when Steven returned I lost it. “How could you?” I screamed.
He looked confused until I held up the phone and he realised he’d been caught out. “Oh,” he said, realising the truth. “I’m sorry.”
I didn’t want to hear his excuses. In the space of one hour I’d given birth and discovered my boyfriend was cheating on me – with the woman who’d bought our pram!
I put the pieces together and realised that while I’d been seeing the midwife, Steven had been romping with Julie in our bed. No wonder he wanted me out of the house.
“I was in labour with your baby,” I yelled. “You slept with her in our bed when I was about to give birth.” Steven started apologising again, but Mum stepped in. “I think you should leave,” she said. “Coral’s been through enough and she’s getting upset.”
The next day I took Bella home and Steven moved out. I couldn’t believe that the happiest day of my life had become the saddest.
Steven still came round to see the kids and one day I looked at him. “It doesn’t matter any more as we’ve split up,” I said. “But tell me the truth. Was it just Julie or were there others?”
He hung his head. “How many?” I said, bracing myself. Then he started reeling off names and counting on his fingers. On and on it went. I could hardly keep up, but when we got to 27 I could feel anger rising.
“It was around 30,” he finally said.
I wanted to punch him. “How many?”
I gasped as he scarpered.
Furious, I posted about it on Facebook.
“I’d like to thank Steven and all the women he’s slept with in our time together – and there have a been a lot!” I wrote. Our friends and my family were all as shocked as I was.
The thing is, Steven is a great dad, but he’s a terrible boyfriend and he knows it. I’m better off without him. While I was pushing, he was pulling and I don’t like to share my man with one other woman – let alone 30!