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TVNZ
If there’s one thing MasterChef Australia’s Linda Dalrymple loves more than cooking, it’s being a mum. But for the cook and husband Dave, the road to parenthood has been far from easy.
A week after the couple’s wedding, Linda collapsed at home, ending up in hospital. After a series of tests, doctors told her she had fibroids, or non-cancerous tumours, growing in her uterus, which would need to be surgically removed if she wanted to start a family.
“I had the operation and after I’d recovered, I did get pregnant,” Linda, 38, tells Woman’s Day.
“But unfortunately, I had a miscarriage.”
With only a small window of opportunity to try for a child before the fibroids grew back, Linda and Dave were worried they’d miss their chance. Thankfully, the Chinese-Cambodian-Laotian cook
soon became pregnant.
Linda’s a loving mum at home.
“There were complications through the whole thing,” she explains. “It was a high-risk pregnancy. I had a lot of pain and was in hospital constantly.”
Despite the ups and downs, when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy via C-section, her worries faded.
“Mothering instincts just kick in,” Linda tells. “When you’re pregnant, you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, how am I going to do this?’ But when you have your first child, it just comes naturally. It’s a great feeling.”
However, 18 months later, when she realised she was pregnant again, Linda was put on automatic bed rest as a precaution. “It was hard because I had a toddler at that time,” she recalls. “But Dave bent over backwards to make me as comfortable as possible.
“I knew how risky it was, especially after the first pregnancy, when every time I’d leave the house to do something, I’d end up in hospital. I wasn’t going to take that risk again.”
A few years and two healthy children later, Linda says it was all worth it. Now she’s determined to make them proud in the competition.
“Having kids has made me a better person,” she shares. “When I had my children, I realised I wanted to be the best role model for them. I want to show my kids, and anyone, that life is much too short to hold back – just go for it.”
