Weeks after welcoming their first baby together, The Block sweethearts Steph and Gian Ottavio have finally returned home with their newborn.
“Bringing our gorgeous Ilaria home ✨” Steph captioned a sweet video, before revealing it was “one of the most challenging weeks” of their lives.
On November 9, Steph and Gian confirmed the arrival of their baby and shared her name was Ilaria Ottavio.
“You have changed our lives forever 🥹,” they shared.
While the birth looked to be picture-perfect, the new-parents have now shared Steph actually spent three nights in the ICU. Steph’s emergency cesarean ultimately let to her suffering DIC, a rare and life-threatening blood-clotting disorder.
“I woke up 12 hours later in ICU like this with no baby next to me,” Steph wrote.
“I haemorrhaged from my placenta and caesarean cut and without the supply of blood from blood donors, the incredible practitioners that worked tirelessly on me, modern medicine and the technology available in hospitals today, I wouldn’t be here.”
Steph needed a massive 15L blood transfusion.
Meanwhile, Gian was racing between hospitals with colostrum, tending to their daughter during tests and checking on Steph.
After six days, including three nights in the ICU and another three nights recovering, Steph finally met her daughter. Despite the struggles, Steph admitted “it was all worth it.”
“I had this overwhelming certainty that everything was going to be okay,” Steph confessed. “She gave me time to recover for us to come together again, stronger.”
“She is the light. We’ve been inseparable since.”
Steph and Gian revealed they were expecting a baby on May 18, with a beautiful video featuring the sonogram.
“The start of our little family, when two become three ✨🍼We can’t wait to meet you our beautiful baby Ottavio 🤍,” they captioned the video.
A few weeks later, they revealed the bubs gender! Blindfolded, they played with coloured paint, smothering it on their arms before opening their eyes.
“The excitement was real on creating this gender reveal, although don’t worry as recommended we washed it straight off,” Steph said.
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