AS model Rhian Sugden stares down at her newborn son, the past five hellish years spent trying to conceive melt away.
She and actor husband Oliver Mellor spent £150,000 on eight rounds of IVF to have baby George, with Rhian documenting her struggle on social media.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the couple today tell how they were about to give up on their dream of starting a family when Rhian finally fell pregnant.
And they reveal they were shaken by a miscarriage scare at six weeks — before George’s dramatic arrival left him needing emergency oxygen.
Rhian also fainted on the recovery table following a planned Caesarean section as paediatricians rushed to tend to George, before mum and baby finally got to share a cuddle.
Showing off her son in her first photoshoot since the birth three weeks ago, Rhian, 37, says: “He’s taken all the years of pain away.
“It’s so strange because he hasn’t even been here a month, but I can barely recall life before he arrived. He’s just absolutely perfect.”
Rhian and ex-Corrie actor Oliver, 43, gush over little George during our meeting, describing him as a “miracle”.
The perfectly behaved tot gurgles his way through feeds, nappy changes and even flash-bulbs going off.
Rhian, who was a big hit in her days working as a Page 3 model for The Sun, is breast-feeding George.
She says: “It’s crazy that I’m feeding my own child from my body — nature is amazing.
“I feel like I love my body more than ever.
“I always thought it didn’t work properly because it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do in allowing me to have a baby. But now I think it’s just incredible.
“I thought I’d hate 3am or 4am feeds, when I’d have to get up in the middle of the night, but they are my favourite.
“George looks at me while I feed him, then we go back to bed just as the sun is rising.”
Gazing adoringly at Rhian, Oliver tells her: “I love watching the bond you two have. It sounds cliched but it’s really beautiful.”
The couple have every right to be bowled over by George after spending five years and £150,000 of their savings to conceive.
They began trying shortly after marrying in a ceremony on the Turkish coast in September 2018.
The last couple of rounds felt like Oliver and I were just going through the motions
Rhian
When Rhian failed to fall pregnant in the first year, she went to doctors, who said she had a low egg count — most likely due to one of her ovaries not working properly.
It was then that she and Oliver, 43, from Manchester, embarked on the emotional roller-coaster of IVF — just like up to one in seven British couples who struggle to start a family.
On Mother’s Day last year, Rhian posted a moving picture on her Instagram account with tears streaming down her face.
The accompanying message read: “The reality of Mother’s Day for an IVF warrior. It’s hard.”
And there is no denying the challenge the couple faced to have George.
Oliver says he and Rhian were “excited” when they first started IVF, but that it was “mental torture” by the end.
“You lose hope,” he revealed. “Everyone kept saying, ‘Keep trying, stay hopeful’, but it was hard.”
By their eighth cycle, Rhian, too, was worn out and on the verge of giving up.
She recalls how she burst into tears after doctors told her two fertilised eggs being placed back in her body last summer were of “low quality”.
She says: “The last couple of rounds felt like Oliver and I were just going through the motions. Being injected five times a day and taking loads of medication, including steroids, just became part of our lives. My stomach was black with bruises.
“The day the doctors put the last two eggs in, I had my legs up in the air on the table, crying and thinking, ‘What’s the point?’.
“I said if it didn’t work, I would just give up.
“But I now know that so-called low-quality eggs can still do the job — and here George is.”
The pin-up says she was “shocked” after discovering over last year’s August bank holiday that she was pregnant.
Rhian recalls: “I didn’t think there was any chance I had conceived, but I wanted a bank holiday drink so thought I’d better do a test.
“It was 6.30am and the blue line came up, and I rushed into the bedroom and was like, ‘Oliver, I’m pregnant!’ We were both in shock and it took ages for it to sink in. We kept doing tests just to make sure.”
The couple made plans to celebrate with close friends in Majorca six weeks later but, on arrival at Manchester airport, Rhian started to bleed.
I now know that so-called low-quality eggs can still do the job — and here George is
Rhian
Oliver says: “We were at baggage drop at terminal two, and Rhi just looked at me and all the colour went from her face and she said, ‘I’m bleeding’.
“We called the IVF clinic and they said that kind of bleed could be normal.
“But there was nothing we could do but wait as it was too early for anything to show up on a scan.
“Even if we stayed at home, they couldn’t really check. It was the saddest, most glum flight, thinking we had lost our baby.”
Rhian spent three days bleeding but, by a “miracle”, repeated tests on their one-week break showed she was still pregnant.
She says: “We’d been told the pregnancy tests would continue to show positive for a while, but it gave us a bit of hope.
“And, when we got home and they remained the same, we thought, ‘Maybe he’s still with us’.”
A seven-week scan revealed baby George had survived the scare and Rhian says the rest of her pregnancy went smoothly until week 34, when specialists said she was carrying too much fluid and she was booked in for a planned C-section.
George was born at Royal Bolton Hospital on April 25, weighing a healthy 8lb 7oz.
He cried straight away but Rhian only caught a glimpse of the tot before he suddenly went quiet — and midwives realised he was turning blue.
Oliver says: “The nurse said George’s oxygen levels were low, around 70 when they should have been nearer 100.
“A couple of minutes later about ten doctors flooded in and he had an oxygen mask placed on him.
“His levels would build up but then they’d take the mask off and they would go down a little again. They eventually stabilised.
“It was really daunting and scary but the doctors were amazing.
“It felt like panic stations but I kept thinking, ‘I’ve seen One Born Every Minute on TV and I know this is going to be OK’.”
We’re looking forward to getting our sex life back, too. We both miss it, but it’s some-thing we’ve not had the time or want for yet
Oliver
Rhian, meanwhile, was barely aware of what was going on around her after being sick through medication and momentarily passing out.
She says: “I could see Oliver giving me the thumbs-up to reassure me. He looked pale and I knew something was going on but didn’t know what.”
Oliver was told to leave the room while doctors tended to George and Rhian, before they were all finally united in the recovery area.
Rhian says sadly: “We missed the early skin-to-skin time because of all the drama, and I was so dazed I didn’t feel that initial rush.
“But once we got settled in the ward, I looked over at George and felt that rush of absolute love.
“We saved our tears for when we got home a few days later.
“I’d go into the kitchen and walk back into the front room bawling my eyes out with pure joy, and then Oliver would claim to have a bit of dust in his eye and have a little cry.
“We’ve spent weeks in a magical baby bubble and it’s been incredible. George is such a chilled-out baby and we’re so lucky.”
Rhian and Oliver have been told she is likely to be more fertile following the pregnancy.
She says: “Midwives told us and we’ve heard stories of couples who had IVF then went on to conceive again, so maybe it’ll happen for us. I won’t complain!”
Oliver adds cheekily: “We’re looking forward to getting our sex life back, too. We both miss it, but it’s some-thing we’ve not had the time or want for yet. We’re just loving having time with George.”
On her modelling future, Rhian says: “I’m an older mum so I wasn’t expecting everything to go back to where it should be. But it has. Even if it hadn’t, I’d have been OK with that because we have George.
“If there’s still work out there I’m up for it. If anything, I think my body is more beautiful and amazing than ever.”
