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OK! JOINS KIAN EGAN AND WIFE JODI ALBERT AS THEY REVEAL ALL ABOUT ‘SHOCK’ BIRTH, THEIR CELEBRATIONS WITH KIAN’S WESTLIFE BANDMATES – AND HOW THEY’LL KEEP TRYING FOR A GIRL…

When OK! arrives at Kian Egan and Jodi Albert’s beachside home in West Ireland, we’re met by a svelte Jodi, who only give birth to the couple’s first child Koa three months ago. The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifts from their kitchen, which has panoramic views of the seas and mountains of Sligo. Kian, 31, is sitting in the kitchen, eating toast and marmalade holding his beautiful, blue eyed boy. ‘Most men worry about the life-change of having a baby and I was one of them, but now he’s here you just realise, this is what life’s all about!’ admits the singer, who is soon to embark on Westlife’s final tour.

The couple who met in their teens and wed in 2009, split their time between London and Ireland, but after completing building work on this five-bedroom home which they designed from scratch – a labour of love that’s taken four years – they relish living here. ‘It’s a big house with lots of small rooms’ says Jodi, 29. ‘I’m not from a wealthy background, so I didn’t want the rooms to be too big. I like them cosy.’ Their sprawling home has lots of imported Indonesia furniture, plus surf addicted Kian has 12 surf boards in the garage – and the new parents have got themselves in to a happy routine with Koa, which includes surfing! ‘I’ll go surfing for a few hours in the morning, then we’ll have lunch and go for a walk on the beach with the dog, then I’ll take over while Jodi has a bath and I cook dinner for us. We’re a real tag team and it’s a very relaxed environment here,’ says Kian.

Here, chatting exclusively to OK! Kian 7 Jodi open up about their surprise premature labour, their week stay in hospital and how they won’t stop having babies until they have a little girl…

Congratulations on the birth of Koa! How have you both been?

Jodi: Thank you. It’s amazing! We were so ready for a baby, so we’ve enjoyed ever second. Koa’s a chilled out little dude, we’re very lucky. He just sleeps and eats, he doesn’t really cry. He’s very cool.

Kian: I wake up in the morning and the first thing I see is Koa’s smile. I really don’t care about how many hours sleep I’ve had, he just brings such joy.

Koa’s an unusual name…

Jodi: the name is Hawaiian. We loved it ’cause of it’s connection to surfing. I just love the sound of the word Koa. It comes from the Hawaiian Koa tree. Some of the best surfboards are made from it’s wood, so when Koa was born it just suited him and out little vibe as a family. As soon as Koa was born it suited him.

Kian: Koa also means bold, brave and fearless which we thought was cool for a little boy.

How was your labour?

Jodi: well, it was December and I still had two weeks to go, but the baby weighed 8lbs, so I went into hospital and was given a ‘sweep’ to see if the labour would come on early. The doctor said their was a possibility we could have the baby that night. We just looked at each other, We were so excited. We couldn’t believe our baby was finally coming.

Kian: we were delighted it happened then as it was just before Christmas, so we were actually able to have Christmas day with Koa. It was just the three of us with our dog, Prince, in our new home. It was just perfect.

Jodi how long we’re you in labour for?

It was 13 hours! I know this is going to sound annoying for some women, but I didn’t find it that bad! I’ve always suffered from excruciating period pains, so I was comparing my contractions to them and I was able to handle it. There are a lot of horror stories, but when you come to actually have a child you realise women are built for it, we are so able.

Did you have any drugs?

I had gas and air and they give me an epidural, but it didn’t work so I could still feel everything. This went on for hours, then they rerouted the epidural so I had a second one and I fell asleep for an hour. Then they woke me up and told me I was going to start pushing – and our baby was born an hour later!

Kian, was it hard seeing Jodi in pain?

Watching Jodi go through all that give me a whole different respect for women. I was telling my friends to pick up the phone, ring their mothers and thank them for what they experience for us! It’s insane what they do. Jodi didn’t scream once. It was the determination in her to make sure everything went all right that really impressed me. The way she powered through – I was well taken back by it.

Jodi: The only thing that was going through my mind was that I wanted Koa out safely, as he was a big baby. I didn’t really care about me at that point. But the staff at Sligo General Hospital, where I had him, we’re amazing. I was never on my own for a second and they made me feel so comfortable.

You didn’t know the sex of your baby before the birth…

Jodi: I always had a feeling it was a boy, so when he came out I said to Kian: ‘I told you it was a boy!’ We were crying, kissing and cuddling.

Kian: A little girl would melt my heart now, but every man likes the idea of having a little boy. I’m looking forwards to taking him surfing, golfing – he’s going to be an outdoorsy little dude. But we do want a little girl, hopefully next time.

Kian, you’ve said you want four children – any plans for the next one yet?

Jodi: He’s still saying that! But I don’t know about four. If he’s putting the pressure of four on me, I’m going to put the pressure of a girl on him! I’ve got my boy. I want a little girl next, but not any time soon!

Kian: I think no matter how many boys we have. we’ll keep going until we have a girl too!

Kian, did you cut the umbilical cord?

No, I didn’t like the idea of it. At the point they asked me, Koa was lying on Jodi’s chest and I had one hand on her head and one hand on Koa. Cutting the umbilical cord seemed totally irrelevant to me.

How long were you in hospital for after the birth?

Jodi: We choose to stay for nearly a week. the staff helped show us what to do – how to bath, wind, feed and clean him. We were so comfortable there, we didn’t want to go home!

Kian: the first night was unbelievable! I woke up and fed him and changed him. I told Jodi to go back to sleep, I wasn’t going to let her do anything after what she’d been through!

Jodi: But when we did go back to our house, it was strange how Koa instantly made our house feel like a home. We couldn’t believe we hadn’t had him before. It’s a mental thing that happens, it’s like a switch goes off in your head and you feel this crazy love and happiness.

Have you suffered from the baby blues at all, Jodi?

No one really talks about how you feel after having a baby. About a week or two after, it felt like I’d been hit by a lorry. Your body changes so much to allow a baby to come out of it. Obviously, your hormones are flying all over the place, but I got emotional some days and didn’t know why I was crying. I’d look at Koa and have so much love and happiness in me, but I suppose I wanted my body back to normal rather impatiently.

One in ten new mums suffer from postnatal depression…

I can see how postnatal depression could creep up on you, even if you’re really happy. It comes in weird forms, like just dealing with my body. The first time I worked out I couldn’t even jump, I felt like lead, but that’s because I’ve been carrying something really heavy for nine months. You just feel tired. I was really luck because Kian’s really hands-on. It’s a big deal, you do need help.

Kian, what did you do when Jodi was feeling low?

I’d say: ‘Look at our baby boy, look at what we’ve accomplished, we’re the luckiest people in the world.’ and I was given her little cuddles. I’d do all the night feed, generally five or sic hours sleep does me anyway, so Jodi can have a proper rest.

How has your relationship changed since Koa’s arrival?

Kian: you grow so much closer. We’ve never argued much, but the things we argued about before are out of the window now. We have a good routine going on, and we’re just so much in love.

Jodi: From the minute we met, we fell in love and got married, we always knew we were serious. But when you have a baby, it goes to a whole new level. I didn’t think I could love Kian anymore, but I do. It’s crazy, I don’t even know how that happens. You just can’t believe what you’ve done together. If you’re ready for it, it’s the best experience of your life and you will never do anything better.

Jodi, you look great…

I put on two stone during the pregnancy and I’ve lost 10lbs so far. I started training four weeks ago and me and Kian train together – we do boxing and circuit training. We’ve been eating healthier and feel like we’ve got so much energy now. I want to get back to what I weighed before, which is nine stone. It’s not about becoming really skinny, I just feel more comfortable and happier being that weight.

Are you breastfeeding?  

No, it didn’t suit how I felt afterwards. As soon as I’d given birth, I knew it wasn’t for me. I was really tired and wanted to be full of energy. It was more important to me to be a good mum and to be able to care for Koa properly, and not be crying because my boobs were sore or because I was tired. Fair play to women that can cope with it, but it wasn’t for me.

Have you wet the baby’s head yet?

Kian: I’m not one of those guys to go to the pub with all my mate’s and have 15 pints to wet the baby’s head, but we have a few nights out here and there.

Jodi: We had our first night out with Shane [Filan, Kian’s bandmate] and his wife Gillian a few weeks ago. We went to Nubo for dinner and Kian thought I’d be fun to do lots of tequila shots! That wasn’t a great idea as I hadn’t drunk for a year. But I dived in head first, like an idiot, and paid for it for about a week! My husband’s lethal when he gets going!

Kian: That was a good night, but you do get to a point where yo don’t need to go out and get hammered because you have to wake up to Koa the next day. It’s not fair on him if you’re hungover and you barely have the energy to take care of him. Unless we have someone taking him off us for a night and day, then we just have a few glasses of wine and a nice meal. Having a baby changes your way of thinking and you want to have nice mornings and be out of bed early and be healthy and fit for your children.

Have the lads from Westlife met Koa yet?

Jodi: Mark and Shane came up to the hospital to meet him the week we had him, and Nicky and his wife Georgina sent some lovely presents. They’re all really supportive, they love him. They’re always asking for pictures!

Last time we spoke, Jodi, you said that Mark and Kevin [Mcdaid] were going to be amazing uncles. They’ve since split, which is sad news…

Yes, it is. That all happened when I was about to give birth. There both very good friends of ours and we’re here for them as much as they need us to be. Mark is amazing with Koa.

Has Louis Walsh or Simon Cowell congratulated you?

Kian: Louis hasn’t seen the baby yet, but he does continuously ask me about him, which is so sweet. Louis doesn’t strike you as the type of person to talk about children much, yet he’s asking loads about Koa. Maybe he’s getting soft in his old age! We haven’t heard from Simon, but we don’t really see him anymore – Westlife left his label a year ago.

Jodi, have you got any plans to restart your acting or singing career  in the future, when Koa’s a little older?

I’m not sure. The end of Wonderland really broke my heart as I’d put my heart and soul into it. I love having my little boy and I don’t want to miss a second of his young life, but if something I like comes along, we’ll see. At the minute, I’m happy though.

Kian, westlife announced their split last year – was that a hard decision?

It was actually a very natural decision. We’d been doing it for so long – the only thing we’d all done apart from being in school was singing in Westlife. We were coming to the end of our contract at our record label, we were offered another, but we sat down and discussed whether we wanted that and the last few years in the band hadn’t been easy, so it felt right to leave it there. But our farewell tour kicks off soon – over 500,000 people in the Uk and Ireland. To see there’s so much love and to leave on such a high is amazing.

Will you be touring as a family?

Jodi: Yes, we’re all going. The tour bus is ready for all the kids! Kian wants Koa with him. We’ve got Koa these cool little headphones to block out the sound.

Kian: After that, Jodi and I would like to get back to sunshine and spend some time traveling, living a lifestyle that we haven’t lived for a few years. We’d love Koa to see the world. Having a baby really changes things. It puts life in perspective.

I love them so much.
Koa is absolutely gorgeous. What a beautiful family.

(Source: musicislife-x-x)

(Source: rossyslittleworld)