Author, journalist, brain-box, razor-sharp wit … they’re all words that are slung endlessly around lovable Seven Sharp funny guy Tim Wilson. But after the arrival of his second baby earlier this year, there’s another description to add to the mix – zombie!
Tim, 50, and his wife Rachel, 30, were surprised but thrilled last year to discover they were expecting another baby, just three months after the arrival of son Roman in March 2015.
Having two children just a year apart, they knew, would be a challenge, but just how much was still a mystery when Rachel went into labour.
It was a Sunday evening and Tim was co-hosting his radio show, The Two, on Newstalk ZB. Recalls Rachel, “He was due off air at 11pm, but I sent him a text at 10pm saying, ‘Come home now!’”
An hour later, the expectant parents were in their car on their way to the birthing unit at Auckland City Hospital, with Rachel’s contractions coming every 90 seconds.
Grins Tim, “As we drove through the city at night, all the traffic lights were down, and I was creeping through the intersections going, ‘Oh, it looks like there’s a power cut.’ Rachel was saying, ‘I don’t care if there’s a power cut, just get me to the hospital!’”
The Nelson-born former music teacher had endured a 35-hour labour with Roman and was set on an epidural for pain relief the second time round. But, says Tim, “The on-duty obstetrician was an hour away and the midwife asked if we would like to go with a private obstetrician, at which point I foolishly said, ‘How much is that?’ Rachel shot me a very black look.’”
Continues Rachel, “As it turned out, neither of the private obstetricians would be available for 30 minutes and by then I was pushing.”
“Rachel ended up giving birth without painkillers and I was just so in awe of her,” says Tim. “She just rolled up her sleeves and got on with it.”
Baby Felix Tudehope Wilson was born at 2am on Monday, March 7, weighing 3.4kg and arriving exactly one year and four days after his big brother. “He had his right hand over his face like, ‘Aw, really? Come on!’” smiles Tim. “He was basically born face-palming!”
Even before they brought Felix home to their snug inner-city apartment, Tim and Rachel realised Felix was vastly different from his brother, who had been a low maintenance baby. “Felix was colicky,” says Tim. “He wouldn’t sleep, he wouldn’t settle, he wouldn’t feed. He cried – a lot.
“We hadn’t learnt any of the complicated burping techniques when we had Roman because we didn’t need to, but with Felix, we learned them all out of desperation.”
With ever-deepening circles under their eyes, the normally upbeat couple tried frantically to resolve the problem through various alternative therapies, from acupuncture to cranial osteopathy.
They even called in a favour from Kiwi “baby whisperer” Dorothy Waide, who Tim had interviewed on Seven Sharp.
“I still had her number and we were so desperate, I gave her a call. She was wonderful,” tells Tim.
After eight agonising weeks, the colic miraculously passed. “People say, ‘Oh, it’s just colic. Once the digestive system starts to develop, it will be fine,’” says Tim. “But when you’re going through it, you just look at them and think, ‘You don’t know anything. This is what my life is like and it will always be like this.’ But it’s still totally worth it. Felix is such a lovely little guy.”
Tim, 50, and his wife Rachel, 30, were surprised but thrilled last year to discover they were expecting another baby, just three months after the arrival of son Roman in March 2015.
Felix’s arrival into the world wasn’t without its drama, however! With no obstetricians available at the hospital, Rachel ended up giving birth to little Felix without painkillers.
Funny man Tim gets a giggle out of his youngest.
“She just rolled up her sleeves and got on with it,” Tim says of the night Rachel gave birth to Felix without any painkillers. “I was just so in awe of her.”
Baby Felix Tudehope Wilson was born at 2am on Monday, March 7, weighing 3.4kg and arriving exactly one year and four days after his big brother.
“He had his right hand over his face like, ‘Aw, really? Come on!’” smiles Tim. “He was basically born face-palming!”
Even before they brought Felix home to their snug inner-city apartment, Tim and Rachel realised Felix was vastly different from his brother, who had been a low maintenance baby.
The couple endured eight agonising weeks of sleepless nights as little Felix suffered from colic.
“People say, ‘Oh, it’s just colic. Once the digestive system starts to develop, it will be fine,’” says Tim. “But when you’re going through it, you just look at them and think, ‘You don’t know anything. This is what my life is like and it will always be like this.’”
But despite their exhaustion, the pair say their colic nightmare pulled them closer together as a couple. “It was strangely intimate and a time that we will always remember,” Tim confesses.
Throughout it all, the couple couldn’t be prouder of their two little boys. “It’s still totally worth it. Felix is such a lovely little guy,” says Tim.
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