As she explains how a serious medical condition could have caused her to experience “flagging” while giving birth to daughter Siena, Olivia Bowen recalls the moment she experienced “flagging” herself during the birth of her daughter.
Olivia and Alex Bowen, who were expecting their second child, named Siena Grace Bowen, are now raising four children. Former Love Islander Olivia, 31, claims that the much-needed sibling for three-year-old Abel has made their family “100% complete,” but it hasn’t been an easy road to where we are now.
After very sadly losing Siena’s twin early in the pregnancy, due to what’s known as “vanishing twin syndrome”, Olivia was hoping for a stress-free and relaxed labour at home. But as she sits down with OK! to introduce Siena for the first time, she reveals how her labour turned involved “the scariest moment of her life”.
After trying to achieve her wish of a home birth, Olivia and Alex, who she met on the second series of Love Island back in 2016, went into hospital and were admitted for an emergency caesarean section.
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She says, “I was lying on the operating table without knowing what was going on.” Then, as you can see, Siena was pulled out and was crying without a trace. Then it just started to quiet down, and there was a lot going on. Both of us had the worst thoughts. The words “severe hemorrhage” and “seisen siren” were audible to me.
I just remember thinking, “I need to keep my eyes open,” as a result of my feelings of stagnation. That was probably my life’s most terrifying experience. Never have I felt that way about genuinely feared for my life. I later learned that I lost 2. 8 liters of blood, which is fatal, in three liters.
Alex, 34, understandably struggles to process the trauma of witnessing Olivia’s ordeal. He claims that his feelings about not wanting any more children have been further strengthened by the experience.
He says, “I’m not going to sugarcoat it.” Both births really affected me. We have experienced traumatic experiences. Although many claim that it is the most beautiful thing ever, it hasn’t, in my opinion. We’ve finished, in all likelihood. I’m only concerned that Liv is safe and the children are safe right now. I don’t want to think about how or why it occurred.
Olivia claims to have “at peace with it” and has now “processed what happened” after a while. She is completely focused on soaking up Abel’s role as “awesome big brother,” and enjoying the early cuddles.
The couple are also gearing up for the launch of their new ITV2 reality series, Olivia & Alex: Parenthood, which began filming in June. It’s been a “dream come true” so far, Olivia says, and she can’t wait for people to see how they’ve changed and grown since finding fame – and love – on Love Island almost a decade ago.
She claims, “We’ve obviously changed a lot since Love Island.” Life has changed significantly for us as a family of four. Even though we’ve had some challenging times, we always find the light and have never had the right opportunity to do some TV again. I hope it motivates others to follow suit.
Source: Mirror
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