Rebecca Adlington has admitted she is struggling with her emotionally hard pregnancy as she opened up ahead of welcoming her third child.
The Olympian, 36, announced in September that she is pregnant with ‘a small miracle’ after suffering two devastating miscarriages in three years.
The former competitive swimmer already shares son Albie, two, with husband Andy Parsons as well as daughter Summer, eight, from her previous marriage with ex-husband Harry Needs.
Now Rebecca has shared that this pregnancy is ‘complete different’ to her other ones and that she is more ‘fearful’ this time.
Alongside a glowing selfie cradling her baby bump during a sunny winter walk, the former athlete explained how she has had counselling to help with her emotions.
She wrote: ‘This pregnancy has been completely different. Not many photos, no gender reveal, no baby shower. This isn’t because I’m not excited, it’s because I’m fearful. Anyone who’s had a rainbow pregnancy will likely understand.
Rebecca Adlington has admitted she is struggling with her emotionally hard pregnancy as she opened up ahead of welcoming her third child
The Olympian, 36, announced in September that she is pregnant with ‘a small miracle’ after suffering two devastating losses in three years (pictured with husband Andy Parsons)
‘Mentally and emotionally, this has been my hardest pregnancy. After a counselling session with @petalscharity, I wanted to share a few things that have really helped me, in case they help someone else too.’
Rebecca admitted she is ‘struggling and anxious’ but explained how she has been encouraged to focus on the differences between her pregancy and miscarriages.
She continued: ‘I’ve really tried hard recently to not compare. After loss, comparison can feel automatic. I was encouraged to focus on the differences between this pregnancy and our miscarriages, rather than the similarities.
‘We’ve given our little one a nick name, ours is Jellytot. It’s helped us stop comparing to Harper and allowed our family to start bonding with little one already too.
‘It took me a long time to admit I’m struggling but learnt it’s ok to admit it’s hard. Being anxious and struggling doesn’t take away from how grateful I am to be pregnant, it just means I’m human’.
The BBC Sports presenter said she was ‘cautiously overjoyed’ when she first shared the happy news on Instagram in September.
Rebecca, who shot to prominence as an Olympic swimmer, posted a sweet black and white photo of her baby scan as she described it as a ‘small miracle’.
She wrote alongside it: ‘We want to share that we are expecting a child. It has been an emotional and physical roller coaster navigating these past 19 months of trying, but this pregnancy has been a small miracle.
Now Rebecca has shared that this pregnancy is ‘complete different’ to her other ones and that she is more ‘fearful’ this time
Rebecca admitted she is ‘struggling and anxious’ but explained how she has been encouraged to focus on the differences between her pregancy and miscarriages
The former competitive swimmer already shares son Albie, two, with Andy as well as daughter Summer, eight, from her previous marriage with ex-husband Harry Needs
‘We questioned whether we wanted to share this news but we want to continue to be open and honest about our journey and be mindful of the struggles that others have had and continue to have.
‘We are taking each day as it comes and are incredibly grateful for the care we are receiving from the NHS (Rainbow Team) and are feeling overwhelmingly supported by them.
‘While we are cautiously overjoyed, we carry awareness of the quiet struggles many face, and we send love to those hearts too. We know so many people are still waiting for this kind of news.’
In August Rebecca opened up about the heart-wrenching reminder of her second miscarriage that left her ‘hating her body’ when she got home from hospital.
The TV star and husband Andy spoke to This Morning hosts Emma Willis and Craig Doyle about their two devastating miscarriages – in a bid to raise awareness and help anyone else who has suffered.
Rebecca had her first miscarriage at 12 weeks back in 2022, and was told that she had a molar pregnancy – so this resulted in her having emergency surgery.
A molar pregnancy occurs when a lump of abnormal cells grows in the womb instead of a healthy foetus.
The following year she was told about her second miscarriage at her 20-week scan, and she had to give birth to her child, a daughter the couple named Harper. She admitted that she really struggled to look at herself afterwards because it looked like she was still expecting.
Speaking about her heartbreaking ordeal, Rebecca bravely told ITV viewers: ‘I was angry at my body, my body let me down, it didn’t give me that: “This is going wrong! Go get help!”‘
Breaking her silence on her pregnancy in a new interview, Rebecca has opened up about her anxiety and revealed how she is leaning into the feelings
The BBC Sports presenter said she was ‘cautiously overjoyed’ when she first shared the happy news on Instagram in September
‘It didn’t tell me anything. I had no symptoms. That was really hard to get over, and afterwards as well, you still look pregnant.
‘That is very hard to deal with, the fact that you give birth, the baby isn’t alive, and then you go home, you have to look in the mirror as a woman and still look 20 weeks pregnant.
‘It’s incredibly hard. I hated my body, I fell out of love with my body, even though my human body delivered two healthy children, four Olympic gold medals and yet I just couldn’t understand why it had let me down now.
‘And the second time as well. It’s hard the second time around.’
For support, contact the Miscarriage Association (miscarriageassociation.org.uk) or Sands (sands.org.uk)
