MOTHERS across Oxfordshire are looking forward to putting their feet up tomorrow, and none more deserving than Appleford’s Vicky Lamb.

The 36-year-old became a sensation along with husband Andrew when in May 2010 she gave birth to sextuplets, the first woman in Britain to do so for 17 years.

The surviving four, Ellen, Eric, Rosie and Layla, started at Dunmore School, Abingdon, in September and are thriving.

Mrs Lamb said: “They’re just so funny. If you’re having a bad day one of them will come out with a little comment that makes you think, I would not change this for the world.”

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Andrew Lamb, 36, is an HGV driver and Mrs Lamb now hopes to return to work, retaking GCSEs in April before training as a chiropractor.

This year the family were left homeless after a house fire on January 6.

Mrs Lamb said the incident’s unsung hero was big sister Grace. She said: “When the alarm went off, I went to see if I had left the iron on but then saw smoke billowing out of the eaves. I arrived back to find Grace had got them all outside.”

Mrs Lamb first discovered she was pregnant with the youngsters in January 2010.

The babies were born at 27 weeks at the John Radcliffe Hospital. Two of them, Matthew and Pippa, died within two months. Rosie has cerebral palsy and Layla required an operation on her damaged oesophagus.

Despite her background as a nursery manager, Mrs Lamb admitted it has been a learning curve – breakfast is a “freefor- all” and there are 20 pairs of shoes between the children at any given time.

She said: “Nothing prepares you for having children with special needs. Go to the groups that are offered, accept advice, take breaks and look after yourself.”

She plans to do just that today, celebrating Mothers’ Day early by going to see Lionel Ritchie in Birmingham.