Rough start to motherhood HOW JANIKA GOT THROUGH

Now she’s making the most of being mum to her cheeky chap

- SOPHIE NEVILLE

For most parents, a baby’s first smile is a precious moment. But for broadcaster Janika ter Ellen and her rugby reporter husband Ross Karl, their sweet boy Eden’s gummy grins mean so much more after a turbulent start to life.

While it’s blissfully calm at the family’s Auckland home now, Janika is refreshingly honest about the struggles that came with new parenthood. Feeding problems meant their wee boy was often unhappy and unsettled, and long days and nights were spent trying to get enough milk into him.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced,” tells the Newshub reporter and Prime News weekend presenter. “That incredible force of love was always there, but I’d still spend entire days crying because I was so on edge. I was exhausted and overwhelmed.”

So it’s understandable then that the doting duo take such delight in making Eden smile now that they’re out the other side.

“We must look ridiculous because we’re constantly singing, dancing and jumping around the room, but there really is nothing better than when he smiles,” says Janika, 33. “It just melts our hearts. We’re so grateful to have a happy, healthy baby now.”

Little Eden arrived on October 21 after a difficult pregnancy for Janika, who had to take more than a month off work due to severe morning sickness. And with her due date falling slap bang in the middle of the Rugby World Cup, the couple also had to contend with the fact Newshub journalist Ross, 37, was due to fly to Japan for the final few weeks of her pregnancy.

“As a rugby reporter, he’d been building up to it for four years, so it was important to both of us that he went,” Janika explains.

The couple agreed Ross would go for the first few weeks, return for Eden’s birth, then fly back to Japan for the final games.