CLAIRE'S BABY BLESSING'SHE'S A TOUGH COOKIE!'

The Timaru social media star is over the moon about being a mum

- Cloe Willetts

Claireabelle Burt knows how it feels to experience fear, from almost dying as a result of eating disorders to undergoing life-threatening surgery. But the scariest moment for the Timaru social media sensation was being told she was miscarrying her unborn baby.

At 10 weeks pregnant, Claire thought she would lose her and fiancé Charlie Satele's much-wanted first bub after entering hospital with bleeding and hyperemesis, a severe and serious type of morning sickness.

Luckily, it was only a scare for the bubbly blonde, 31, whose Instagram page Life Of A Binge Eater - which documents her journey with bulimia, binge-eating disorder, recovery, weight-loss surgery and skin-removal procedures - has over 35,000 followers.

On 13 September, Claire and Charlie, 27, were overjoyed to welcome their beautiful baby girl Lulu, who had big brown eyes and weighed a healthy 3.1kg.

To their surprise, little Lulu also arrived with a melanocytic naevus, a large mole on her forehead that has earned her the affectionate nickname "Unicorn" because of its placement. While the new parents quickly accepted and fell in love with their daughter's unique mark, which only one percent of infants are born with, it wasn't long before fear set in again for Claire, who was told it could be cancerous.

"My pregnancy was an emotional rollercoaster," she shares. "A month before we found out we were pregnant with Lulu, I had a miscarriage and we were told it could take ages to get pregnant again. It was exciting when we found out we were, but there was a lot of anxiety around losing her."

After Claire's miscarriage scare with Lulu, she was in and out of hospital having fluids since she could barely keep food and water down.

Each time, Lulu's heart showed signs of distress and, at 28 weeks pregnant, the first-time mum was advised that her baby might need to come early because she had stopped growing.