After her baby shower aired on Real Housewives of Melbourne on Sunday night, Jackie Gillies is finally free to share the names of her twin boys. She also shared the significance behind each name and how she’s coping with motherhood, five weeks after giving birth.
WATCH: The moment Jackie Gillies found out she was having twin boys
Jackie and her husband, musician Ben Gillies, welcomed twins back in October, after a lengthy IVF journey and miscarriage struggle that they shared with fans on the show. Talking about their baby heartache and now joy on her Shine It Up podcast on Tuesday, Jackie said she was excited to be able to share the gender and names of her twins with fans now.
“I’m so blessed to have shared this moment on the Real Housewives of Melbourne with all the fans who love watching the show, particularly with people that have followed my journey throughout the years,” she said. “To actually finally get here after such a long journey feels so surreal and I do pinch myself every day with how lucky I am, and to share it with all of you makes my heart sing.”
Bringing Ben onto the podcast to announce the names, the happy couple revealed they named their twins Bonham David Gillies and Rocco Ivan Gillies. Both middle names were chosen in honour of Ben and Jackie’s fathers, respectively.
“Bonham came from the last name of the late John Bonham [from Led Zeppelin], who was a very large influence on me in my musical journey,” the Silverchair drummer said. “It was actually Jackie’s suggestion to call one of the boys Bonham. And we decided some time ago, when we found out it was boys, that we would have our father’s names as the middle name.”
“I think Rocco was one of the names we just had in a hat,” he continued.
“For me, Rocco is just a beautiful name [laughs],” Jackie said, with Ben adding: “He just seemed like a Rocco.”
Ben went on to say they had waited a few days to name their boys, to see how they felt before making the final decision. Though names like Wolfgang were in the mix, the stars said their sons definitely have personalities to match their given names.
“Rocco is a little bit fiery, where Bonham is a Zen master,” Ben said.
The proud parents of two have long wanted to have children. Jackie revealed she’s had ‘good’ and ‘not so good’ days emotionally since giving birth, thanks to her fluctuating hormones and sleep deprivation.
“I have to say, every day… I feel like every day when I wake up I get so excited to see them – between the feeds, that is – after I’ve had a good sleep I’m going ‘oh I miss them already’,” she said.
“How am I feeling? Today I actually had a tear up. It came out of nowhere – it’s the hormones, the breast pumping, [thinking] am I doing a good enough job? You sometimes have those thoughts, I mean I do anyway. And you go, is this my life? I love my children so much but it’s just an overwhelming feeling. But it’s okay to have a tear up, you’ve got to let it all out.
“Oh my god, this mum life. I didn’t know what to expect, but bloody hell. I feel like today is running into tomorrow and tomorrow is running into the next day and I’m just taking it one day at a time. It’s still so surreal that these are my boys and that I’m a mother.”
WATCH: Jackie Gillies opens up on her IVF journey on RHOM. Story continues after video.
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