Sitting back at The Footy Show desk six weeks after the birth of her daughter Eliza, Erin Molan was feeling overwhelmed.
Still recovering from an emergency C-section and suffering from the anxiety of being separated from her newborn, she was also counting down the minutes to the commercial break.
“I have memories of going out during those breaks to breast pump because I was actually leaking through my clothes,” she chuckles in remembrance of those early days of motherhood. “It was bloody hard. But the reality of our situation is that we need to pay our mortgage. It wasn’t an, ‘I am woman, hear me roar, I must go back to work’ thing. It really was just for our family and our situation.”
The word “family” will come up multiple times today as Eliza, now 15 months old and the apple of her mother’s eye, and Erin, 36, celebrate their special bond with The Weekly. Family means everything to Erin. The Nine Network sports presenter calls her mum, Anne, and dad, former major-general and former Liberal senator, Jim Molan, “three or four times a day” she bashfully admits. Her older sibling Sarah, who went through the unimaginable pain of giving birth to a stillborn daughter before winning a battle with bowel cancer, inspired Erin’s passionate ambassadorships for charities including Bowel Cancer Australia and stillbirth support ride Sydney2CAMberra. Younger sister, Felicity, recently “overshadowed poor Eliza’s first birthday” by giving birth to her own first child on June 6, Erin recounts delightedly, adding that the youngest Molan, airline pilot Mick, is “the most incredible, divine thing in the whole world”. And then there’s her fiancé and Eliza’s dad, Sean Ogilvy.
The pair met at Sydney’s Coogee Bay Pavilion, arguably not the most salubrious of venues, while Erin was out with friends for Christmas drinks.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
