Normally hearing you're pregnant is joyous news. But Jenny Corlett's "world came crashing down again" when the test came back positive.

That's because just two weeks earlier the baby's father, her husband Chris Corlett, had died when his truck hurtled backwards down a gully on Christchurch's Port Hills while spreading fertiliser.

Jenny Corlett with daughters Lorna, 2, and Hazel, 4. Photos: Fairfax NZ.

Suddenly Jenny Corlett was left to care for two pre-school daughters by herself, with another on the way.

"We were trying for a third baby but I said to Chris... 'if you want to have another baby I'm not doing it on my own', because he quite liked golf...I was a golf widow before I was actually a widow. And here I was on my own."

Chris, 34, died in March and the rest of the year has been a whirlwind for Jenny and her daughters Hazel, 4, and Lorna, 2, who have now resettled in Tauranga.

First, she had to fight the bank to have her mortgage put on hold. Then, she had to fight the insurance company to get Chris' life insurance money. The company initially wouldn't pay because Jenny's name wasn't on the policy and the coroner hadn't released findings.

Two weeks after her husband died in a truck crash, Jenny Corlett found out she was pregnant with Jane, now six weeks old.

"I had to pay over $10,000 in lawyers fees to get it released."

Meanwhile, she was trying to get answers out of Worksafe NZ about how the accident happened.

"We had a really big conversation about his work up on the hills about two weeks before he died. He was pissed off because he didn't get the new roll truck.

Two weeks after her husband died in a truck crash, Jenny Corlett found out she was pregnant with Jane, now six weeks old.

"I said 'how much longer have you got on these hills I'm sick of you working up there'. He'd just had enough, he was saying 'it's just me up there, no-one's helping'."

Ellesmere Transport owner Murray Righton says Corlett's truck had a safety frame but the vehicle didn't roll anyway. He says Worksafe has investigated and informed him there would be no prosecution.

"It's very unfortunate for both parties. Those children haven't got a father, it's not very nice at all and it's not nice for us to have to leave her in that situation. We tried to help her as much as we could."

A photo of Chris and Jenny Corlett.

Worksafe says it hoped to meet Jenny last week to explain its findings.

As if dealing with bureaucracy wasn't enough, Jenny's pregnancy was difficult, with severe bleeding, and she was rushed to Tauranga Hospital six weeks ago for an emergency caesarean.

Her daughter, Jane, was born four weeks premature and had to spend almost two weeks in special care.

"That was really hard, all I wanted was Chris, I was like 'where's my husband?'."

She says Jane has brought a lot of joy into the family. "She's definitely a blessing and a miracle."

One day she'll tell her about the father she never met.

"I'll tell her that she was made with love, that...although you don't know your dad he wanted you, we wanted you in our lives. I always tell the girls we've got to put on a good show for dad because he's watching."

- Stuff