Timing has never been our friend,” The Block Australia’s Haydn Wise says of himself and his wife of nine years, Chelsea. And that was certainly the case when it came to the arrival of their eight-month-old daughter Matilda – just three days into his time on The Block.
“She wasn’t due until Haydn had been gone for four weeks already,” Chelsea, 36, tells Woman’s Day. “So I thought, ‘Well, it’s only two months on my own with her.’ But then she had other plans… She came three weeks early!”
However, it was a magic moment the couple feared might never come.
“She’s 100% a miracle,” an emotional Chelsea says of her daughter, who arrived via an emergency Caesarean in March.
“We thought there was no chance we would ever be parents,” nods Haydn, 37.
It’s been a long, hard journey to meeting their daughter, whom the pair have dubbed their “unicorn baby”.
Haydn explains, “We’d been trying for nine years and we knew pretty quickly we weren’t going to have one naturally, or we didn’t think we were, so we went through the IVF process. That went on for a number of years, then we had Covid in between and it paused, then we gave up.”
Chelsea continues, “We did our last IVF cycle in February 2023 and then we went on holiday to Thailand in March. We decided while we were away that was it for us and then, in June, I found out that I was pregnant!”
Haydn applied for The Block “not thinking I had a chance”.
He says, “When I got the call, when Chels was eight months pregnant, we thought, ‘How’s the timing of this? What do we do?’”
No regrets
But Chelsea says the new parents “don’t like to live life with regrets”, adding, “I think if Haydn didn’t do it, it would have been a regret. It’s a life-changing experience.”
And, of course, one that could set their little family up for life!
“Oh, it would be beyond a dream,” Haydn sighs. “If we can do well out of The Block, then it will certainly help. Throw it on the mortgage – it’s been a tough nine years.”
He reveals the couple put the eye-watering cost of IVF on to their mortgage – but they’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
“She’s everything we dreamed of and more,” says proud new mum Chelsea. “If you’d asked me what my dream baby would be, she’s that times 10! She’s an angel.”
Little Matilda has slept through the night from the day she was born, hence the nickname “unicorn baby”.
She’s so easygoing that Haydn says new parenthood is a walk in the park compared to the reality reno show!
He admits, “The Block was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. And parenthood is very rewarding. With Tils, I wouldn’t say it’s tough or a chore.”
Haydn says the Three show’s producers made his televised transition to fatherhood as easy as possible.
“The Block looked after Chelsea and put her in a house on Phillip Island for a couple of weeks, so I could go and do some quick visits.”
Of course, reality TV’s luckiest couple also had the much-needed support of Haydn’s bestie and Block teammate Ricky Recard.
“He’s put his hand up to babysit,” Haydn says of his mate of 20 years.
But Chelsea isn’t so sure. “I’m a bit nervous to put Tilly in his hands,” she laughs. “He would just freak out.”
The 34-year-old plumber will play an integral part in Matilda’s life, though.
“We’ve given him the label of godfather,” Haydn says with a smile. “He accepted it before she was born.”
The Block Australia screens 7pm Mon to Wed and 7.30pm Sundays on Three, streaming on ThreeNow.
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