STEPHANIE Davis revealed that she’s expecting her second child but her pregnancy journey hasn’t been easy.
The Coronation Street star, who is already mum to son Caben, 7, is having a baby with partner Joe McKalroy.
The couple had been trying for a baby for two years and Stephanie said how it had been “a rollercoaster”.
Steph and Joe had even started looking at fertility treatment before she fell pregnant naturally.
Despite the expectant parents joy at discovering they were having a baby boy, Steph was fearful.
In 2021 she was left heartbroken after she suffered a miscarriage when she was pregnant with ex Oliver Tasker’s baby.
She’d also lost another baby in 2017 just weeks before she went to court over a domestic violence case against her ex partner Jeremy McConnell.
Due to this, she was labelled “high risk” by doctors and has been under close observation throughout her current pregnancy.
However things took a turn when doctors thought that she was miscarrying again, but was later told she had a haematoma and was put on complete bed rest.
Steph explained to OK!: “The doctor said he believed I was having another miscarriage – or an ectopic pregnancy. But I wasn’t having it, I had this strong gut feeling that it was all going to be OK.”
A haematoma is a collection of blood which is located outside the blood vessels.
Amazingly the haematoma disappeared but in a cruel twist she then picked up C-diff on holiday.
C-diff is a germ (bacterium) that causes diarrhoea and colitis.
“I was terrified. I’m still on medication to treat it, but I’m slowly recovering,” she added.
Steph then had blood tests which showed her HCG levels were too low and not doubling as they should.
HCG is the pregnancy hormone that double roughly every 72 hours before reaching its peak at around eight to 11 weeks of pregnancy.
Luckily, a few days later Stephanie was told that in her latest results the levels had tripled.
“We went for a scan and saw our little bean on the screen,” Steph told the publication, “It was amazing.”
The most clear sign a woman is having a miscarriage is bleeding, varying from light spotting to heavy blood clots.
But bear in mind, some bleeding during the first three months of pregnancy is normal and does not necessarily mean a miscarriage – contact the maternity team or GP as soon as possible.
Other symptoms of a miscarriage include:
Stephanie started dating Joe in November 2021 and he has become a huge part of her and son Caben’s life.
Fans have been convinced for some time that are secretly engaged.
Speaking in the past about their romance, Stephanie said: “No one will ever know how special our love is that we have, it’s just.. words can and will never explain. I love you with all my heart, till death do us part.”
The couple announced their news after finding out at the doctors.
Stephanie said that Joe started crying, which “set her off” and then added that their emotions moved the nurse to tears too.
Steph is well known for previously playing Sinead O’Connor in Hollyoaks.
She later landed a part in Corrie playing Courtney for a short stint.
