Motherhood ‘is so friggin’ hard’, says Edwina Bartholomew
Nothing quite prepared Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew for the experience of having a child, she reveals in a candid interview just two weeks after giving birth.
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Intense, phenomenal and “absolutely full-on”. That’s Edwina Bartholomew’s refreshingly honest description of new motherhood in her first interview since giving birth to her first child just two weeks ago.
The popular Sunrise reporter, 36, who along with husband Neil Varcoe welcomed her first child — daughter Molly — on December 18, says nothing quite prepared her for the experience of having a child despite going in feeling “totally capable”.
“People thank me for being honest about this but I don’t think people talk about it enough,” says the new mum.
“The reality is it is so friggin’ hard. I naively thought after 15 years of shift work and working long days that I would take it all in my stride. But that wasn’t the case really at all. It has been a phenomenal experience and words really can’t describe it. But it’s also intense and very full-on.”
Bartholemew finally welcomed Molly after a lengthy induced labour one week after her due date. “Which,” she says, “ended up being a total of 36 hours in the hospital before she was born.
“The doctor called it a nine-hour labour but I said, ‘No, I’ll count it at 36, thank you’,” she laughs.
“And the first 24 hours after that were just so intense. Anyone reading this who has had a baby will know what I’m talking about. I couldn’t sit down, I couldn’t feel comfortable standing up and you’re walking around like a zombie and you also have to care for and feed this tiny human.
“I remember we had this lovely midwife come in 24 hours after we came home and I just looked at her and burst into tears. She threw her arms around me and gave me this huge hug. It was very emotional.
“Thankfully, I had my mother with me for extra emotional support. And Neil has been so amazing. They say you fall in love with your husband again after you have a baby. And that was definitely the case for me.”
Sunrise viewers will meet Molly in a couple of weeks with Bartholomew planning to visit the set.
“Or we might broadcast me from the couch in my tracksuit pants … who knows,” she laughs. “Let’s just see where we’re at.”
Originally published as Motherhood ‘is so friggin’ hard’, says Edwina Bartholomew