Face of Nation : Carrie Bickmore has spoken candidly about welcoming a third child to her family, revealing the experience had been “so incredibly hard” and made working on TV feel “easy” by comparison.
A hoarse-sounding Bickmore joked that she had been on “just a big holiday” but had unfortunately caught a “mum cold” before returning to TV.
“It’s been awesome — don’t I look fresh, you know,” She quipped on Monday’s Project. “Don’t let the croaky voice or the snotty nose fool you, I am in bliss.”
Bickmore has been on maternity leave for the past eight months and welcomed daughter Adelaide in December last year.
The TV host joked she had been “sending SOS” texts to her co-hosts during her time away from the desk.
“It has been great having a third kid, (but I’m) slightly annoyed at you … and Chrissie Swan,” she said.
“Both of you said to me going from two to three (kids) will be easy. And it has been so incredibly hard.”
Bickmore explained Adelaide had struggled with “really bad” reflux which had taken a while to diagnose.
“ I had no idea what that was and it made the first few months very hard because we couldn’t put her down at all and we didn’t know why she was crying and unsettled,” she said.
“But we’re on top of it all, it’s good now but it’s been full on. Coming to work is easy.”
Ahead of returning to the desk Bickmore got candid in an interview with 10 Daily, telling the website she expected things would be “a bit tricky” for the first few weeks as her family got into a new routine.
“We’ll see how it goes having three kids at home and being away through dinner time,” Bickmore said.
Admitting youngest Adelaide will probably struggle the most as her “happy place” is being held by her mum, The Project host said her third daughter had been the most challenging baby.
“I think I thought I knew how to parent and then Addie threw a spanner in the works. She had reflux and all the things I tried with the other two didn’t work for her,” Bickmore said.
“It’s been very, very different I think going from two to three, I had a little bit of arrogance about it. I thought it can’t be that hard, I’ve done it before. It was very, very, very much of a shock.”
The Project airs Sunday to Friday 6.3pm on Network 10
