INTERVIEW
Embroidered with his name, this cuddly elephant is one of Troy’s favourite gifts Personalised plush toy £22, my1styears.com
Nothing mak es Denise pr ouder than seeing her fo ur children all together
Steve is a hands-on dad to baby Troy
MY ESSENTIALS You gave birth to your fourth child, Troy, in December 2018. How has the last year been? It’s flown by! I remember with my other three children (Lauryn, 16, Ryan, 13, and Kane, 11), the first 12 months seemed to go on forever, but with Troy, it’s been a blur. I don’t know if that’s because I’m a bit more experienced and taking things in my stride, or if he’s just a super baby! He’s very chilled out and embracing every new phase of his life with gusto, which has made it very easy for me. How was your pregnancy? I’ve been lucky enough to have great pregnancies and it was the same with Troy. He was very frontal, and I felt comfortable for most of the time. I was even able to do a bit of training, and my eating wasn’t affected too much either. Given there’s about 10 years between Troy and my third child, Kane, it was also interesting to see how much more information is out there now. That said, the most magical elements are the things that never change,
DENISE LEWIS OBE
The presenter and former Olympic champion talks exercise, baby clothes
like the relationships you have with the midwives and of course, the joy of your baby being born. How have your other three children taken to having a new little brother? They’re fascinated by him, especially now he’s walking
around a bit more. They just find him so entertaining, and they’re teaching him all sorts of different things. My son Ryan has been like a second dad to him, because he was with Troy a lot during the early days and helping out a lot. I just love watching them all interact; it’s really beautiful.
The former Olympian has been blessed with four great pregnancies
Appliqué T-shirt £26, welovefrugi.com
Troy’s first year has flown by
Fitness is obviously a huge part of your life. How did your exercise regime change during this pregnancy? Because of my age, I was definitely more cautious about doing too much. So, I was careful not to bring my heart rate up too high, and did exercises that kept me generally healthy and active, like working on my target muscle groups. My pelvic floor has also been a huge focus; I had a lot of problems when I gave birth to Kane, but maintaining control of it this time has enabled me to do all sorts of high-intensity exercises that I couldn’t do before. Other sportswomen, such as Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott, have faced controversy over exercising during their pregnancies. What’s your take? I think it’s really hard to compare those who have spent their lives dedicated sport and those who haven’t. So, for instance, my body obviously responds very well to exercise
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