122 | April 2020 |motherandbaby.co.ukWORDS
EMILY
THORPE
MUM’S THE WORDI K N OW...Now I’m a mum,...IJUST NEEDEDTOFIND‘THEONE’
I’veneverbeenoneofthose peoplewhohave
lifemilestonesallsetout– I’vealwaysjustgone
with the flow. It wasn’t until I met my partner,
Gorka, that I could picture myself having a
family. When we moved in togetherwe had
a discussion as to whether we bothwanted
children, which we did, but weagreed
there was no rush and that whenwe
we re ready we’d see what happened.
A year or so later we just stopped
being careful – and within three
months I was pregnant with Mia!...PREGNANCY WAS A SHOCK
I had a Saturday night out formy
birthday in November, and I stillfelt
ill by the Wednesday! It was about
a week after that when I noticedmy
boobs were quite sore. BecauseI’d beenon thePill, my periods weren’t
regular, so I didn’t notice
anything amiss. But then
I thought ‘Ooh... Sore
boobs, feeling sickly...
maybe I should do a
pregnancy test.’ And
we found out that I was
five weeks pregnant!...BIRTH CAN
BE EVENTFUL
Mia was due the 12th
of July and my waters
broke on the 4th. There was
no progression for 24 hours
so theyinduced me, but still she
wouldn’tbudge.I wasput on a drip, which
madethecontractionscome quite thick and
fast,butwith each one Mia’s heartbeat dropped,
so they whipped me through for an emergency
c-section. Mia was born weighing just 4lb 10oz,
but everything was fine until a couple of hours
later, when I had a
haemorrhage and
had to be whisked
away. It was under
the NHS at Bolton
Hospital and they were
amazing. Four days later,
they sent us home, and
we looked at each other
and Mia and said: ‘What
do we do now!?’...BABIES CHANGE
O QUICKLY
eeing Mia thrive is my
vourite thing. It sounds
wful but, for me, the first
onth was like watering
plant because all she
d was sleep and eat!
t now she’ll react to
name and, as soon
as she sees you, she smiles. Watching her
progressafter the start she had makes
meso happy. Every day she changes,
like this morning she had a new tuft
of hair and I said to her ‘Gosh, your
hair’s grown in the night!’ She looked
at me as if to say ‘What!?’GEMMA
ATKINSON IS A
PRESENTER FOR
HITS RADIO, AND
MUM TO MIA,
EIGHT MONTHS...OUR BOND
WAS INSTANT
When I first saw Mia, my mum
instantly came into my mind.
I thought ‘Gosh, now I know how my
mum feels about me and my sister.’
I just understood it straightaway – this is
half of me and half of the person I’m in
love with, and we made her.
I know it’s not the case for all new
mums but for me it was instant.
As soon as I saw her, it was
like, oh wow, she’s
actually mine.● Listen to Gemma Atkinson
with Wes Butters on Hits
Radio Drive, every weekday
from 4pm. Visit hitsradio.co.uk... MY FOCUS
IS MY FAMILY
My priority now is Mia and
making sure she’s OK. I went out
to a party yesterday and I drove,^
but my friends were telling me to
stay as Mia was with my sister. In the
past I would have been swayed, but
last night it was a case of ‘No, I’m
leaving because I want to
put Mia to bed. I want to
be there when she
goes to sleep.’