Petra Nemcova was surprised by the premature birth of her son.
Petra Nemcova
The 40-year-old model and her husband Benjamin Larretche welcomed son Bodhi on November 15, six weeks before his due date but this unexpected birth meant that one of Bodhi's lungs had yet to fully develop and he had to be transferred to intensive care immediately after.
She told Hello! magazine: "Every prenatal class we had been to, they told us, 'Giving birth is not like in the movies. Your waters will not break in that dramatic way.' So I had totally disregarded that happening. But it did. My water broke at 1 am. I couldn't believe it. I had not felt any contractions, absolutely zero, and it was so much before the due date."
Petra admitted that she was worried about Bodhi's health but praised Benjamin's calming presence during the challenging time.
She recalled: "They brought him to me so I could see his little cute face and smell him and give him my love, but I could not do skin-to-skin as they had to take care of him, being so premature. I felt so emotional but at the same time I knew I had to stay calm. It helped knowing that Ben would be with him the whole time ... Seeing him with all the tubes everywhere, the constant noise of the machines, and all the injections he had, was very difficult, but Ben is so strong, calm and always so positive. Because of him I was not freaking out. Of course we were very concerned, but we did not allow that negativity to come through."
Bodhi was brought home after 12 days in hospital and Petra revealed that he can already recognise her and Benjamin's voices.
She explained: "He recognises our voices. When he hears his daddy's voice, he knows it is entertainment.
"Ben plays music for him and he dances with him. When he hears my voice, he knows milk is coming, the milk bar is open!"