Munching on a brownie, Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew sits cross-legged, cradling her growing baby bump.
The picture of pregnant perfection, the 35-year-old Sunrise star – who will take six months maternity leave – is bubbling with excitement about carrying her first child.
WATCH Edwina dishes on her pregnancy journey
However, the much-loved presenter doesn’t want to give the impression that her journey here has been easy.
While Edwina is now four months pregnant, and due in December, she reveals to WHO that she and husband Neil Varcoe didn’t fall pregnant straight away.
“For many years, as a woman, you try so hard to not get pregnant,” she tells WHO.
“When you finally get to trying to get pregnant, there’s all these logistics you have to work out, like timing and it’s only really two, three days a month [you can fall pregnant]. It completely sapped the romance out of getting pregnant. But you know, I’m 35 – time’s ticking!”
Bartholomew and her husband Neil Varcoe (an Australian reporter) tied the knot in April last year and were forced to announce the pregnancy after she started showing early.
“Due to my carb bloating it became quite clear quite early on that I was having a baby,” she says.
“So, we had to announce it bang on 12 weeks because we have some savvy, keen-eyed viewers who could tell I was pregnant!”
WHO: Did you struggle to fall pregnant?
Thankfully, for us, we were able to conceive naturally. We were probably trying for six months before we got pregnant. We went to see my doctor and I made my husband go to get [his fertility] tested on Valentine’s Day, and I did the same thing.
WHO: Was it tricky balancing work in the public eye with trying to start a family in secret?
My boss was really good. I said to him at one point, “I’m really struggling and I feel like I’m hitting my head up against the wall. I can’t convince my body it’s OK, that I’m ready.”
So, he gave me three weeks off, without knowing I was pregnant when I went on that leave. But I think three weeks off really just let everything stick and cemented that and allowed my body to rest, and to let nature take its course.
WHO: A lot of women in TV worry that leaving to have a baby will set them back in their careers. Was that a concern for you?
I’m very lucky – the job I have, our lives are so much a part of it. Neil and I getting married was part of our story and hopefully us having kids is part of our story. You know, from Mel Doyle to Natalie Barr, Kochie [David Koch] and Beretts [Mark Beretta], their families have been such a key part of our show. Sam Armytage is an amazing aunt to her nieces and nephews and is wonderful with kids. We are a show for families, it makes sense we have our own. Not all women working in the media are as lucky. It’s not an easy ride for everybody.
WATCH: Behind the scenes with Edwina Bartholomew
WHO: How does it feel having your body change?
Jennifer Hawkins announced she was pregnant around the same time, and I was like, “That’s unfortunate because you’re just going in one direction and I’m going in five directions.” You do come to realise everyone’s pregnancy is different. I’m guessing she didn’t have the same addiction to corn chips early on as I did! It’s super weird, like my boobs got bigger and my thighs.
Read the rest of our interview with Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew in this week’s magazine.
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