Nikki Phillips on miracle son Jett: ‘The journey is the most amazing, terrifying rollercoaster’
THE roller coaster of emotions that came with being pregnant didn’t stop when Nikki Phillips gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Confidential
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THE rollercoaster of emotions that come with pregnancy didn’t stop after Nikki Phillips gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Like many Australian women, model and television presenter Phillips suffered a series of miscarriages before she welcomed son Jett to the world six weeks ago.
“The whole journey itself is the most amazing, terrifying emotional rollercoaster,” Phillips, 33, told The Saturday Telegraph.
“From day one (of the pregnancy) for us, we were hit with the fear and worry, and that never stops once they are out either. Obviously with three miscarriages there was always the fear of, ‘are they going to make it?’.
“Then when we got pregnant with him — every time we went for a scan, or a day I didn’t feel a kick, you’d worry, ‘is everything OK?’.
“And even the moment he came out and I put him on my chest, you have this little life on top of you. The fear and worry doesn’t go anywhere because now you have this amazing little human being and how do you look after him. It is a half-half thing, though, as you are constantly worried and constantly filled with the most incredible instant love. Your heart is so full. It is such a bizarre feeling.”
“We had a chromosomal issue, so Jett is pretty much our little miracle fourth time round.”
About 80 per cent of miscarriages happen in the first 12 weeks, with one in four pregnancies ending in miscarriage before 20 weeks. After this time, it is considered a stillbirth, which affects one in 125 births.
“Even six weeks in you are worried,” Phillips said. “You worry if you’re doing the right thing; ‘Are you a good parent; is he getting everything he needs; is he OK; is he healthy?’.
“He definitely puts things into perspective with life. You wonder what you did before with your time and what you invested everything in and he just makes everything so real and meaningful.”
Phillips is open about her struggles in the hope she can help women with similar stories. She and husband, Dane Rumble describe Jett as their “miracle baby”.
At 23, Phillips was treated for cervical cancer and doctors warned she might struggle to conceive — but it wasn’t that illness that caused her miscarriages.
“We had a chromosomal issue, so Jett is pretty much our little miracle fourth time round,” she said, having conceived her son naturally.
“One of us is a giver (of the chromosomal issue) but we don’t want to find out which one because it is not fair.”
“As soon as he was born, every other concern in the world goes out the door.”
Despite doctors warning the chromosomal issue will be a problem in the future, they are determined to try for another baby down the track.
They’ve also researched IVF and adoption as options.
“We’d definitely love to have two,” Phillips said. “It is something we are already talking about. We aren’t starting straight away but with the struggles we had, we know it is going to 100 per cent happen again.
“We don’t know if it is going to take two years or whether or not we will be able to conceive another one. We are pretty blessed to have this little specimen already but we would like a number two, so we will try again.”
Both originally from New Zealand, Phillips and Rumble wed in Bali in 2014.
Rumble runs the upmarket watch business Creux Automatiq, but was a chart-topping singer and hip-hop star in his homeland before moving to Australia.
He gushed when asked his thoughts of family and fatherhood.
“As soon as he was born, every other concern in the world goes out the door,” Rumble said.
“Every day we are learning. Nikki is a rock star mum but I always knew she would be a natural.”
“It is a fake world because no one ever puts up the bad stuff.”
In May, a heavily pregnant Phillips appeared on the cover of The Saturday Telegraph’s BW Magazine. She has put that cover story aside for baby Jett in a “keepsake box” that she will give the youngster when he turns 21.
“We will embarrass him with it at his 21st,” she said, laughing. “It is amazing that we are fortunate enough to have images like that for him. I am not sure he will see it the same way, he might see it as more of an embarrassment.”
Phillips is easing herself back into work now, though she’s not in a rush. A week ago she attended her first social event, the Myer spring-summer fashion show.
She has found that the nature of her work is changing, though, now that many of her clients see her as a “mummy model”.
Phillips has also not shied away from being honest about some of the practical difficulties of motherhood that she’s encountered.
“Everyone always puts the good stuff on social media,” she said.
“It is a fake world because no one ever puts up the bad stuff. It has organically turned into this mummy thing for me but I am being real about it — it is not easy and I don’t know what I’m doing half the time but I am doing the best I can.”
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