Former Love Island stars Olivia Bowen and her husband Alex Bowen have opened up about the birth of their son, Abel, and shared the ‘scary’ story.
The couple welcomed Abel into the world back in June, but the tot had a worrying start to life according to his parents.
Speaking to OK! 28-year-old Olivia reflected on the moment her son entered the world. “When he first came out he was placed on my chest and then they took him as he wasn’t breathing”.
“It was so scary and really hard. I remember him being at the other end of the room and Alex kept saying: ‘Is he OK? Is he OK?’ and no one was answering us”.
“We didn’t know what was going on, but then finally he started crying and my heart nearly fell out of me”.
Olivia added, “We were so relieved and I can’t even describe the moment we first heard him cry. It was all worth it for that moment”.
31-year-old Alex also revealed he felt ‘helpless’ in the situation. “You feel helpless throughout and then seeing Liv in pain and not really knowing what is going on is hard”.
“I had to take myself away a few times to cry. I wanted to be strong for Liv and I didn’t want her to see me crying”.
He continued, “I don’t want to say it’s the worst experience of your life because it’s not, but some people say it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to them and, for me, it wasn’t as it was scary”.
Olivia then went on to say she considered going to therapy after the traumatic birth. “It was quite traumatic for me and Alex. I’ve had therapy before and it really helped me, so we spoke to my mum after and she said if you need to process what happened, which we probably do, you could speak to the same lady you did before”.
“We haven’t as of yet. I think time naturally heals and you progress through it and we’re very good at speaking to each other, but the option is there and there is no shame in it”.
The pair first met on Love Island and came second place in the reality show. They went on to tie the knot in Olivia’s hometown of Essex in 2018 and announced they were expecting their first child together on New Year's Day of this year.
