Amy Walsh and Toby-Alexander Smith have been adjusting to parenthood!
The soap stars welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Bonnie, in December of last year.
Speaking to OK! ahead of their daughter’s first birthday, the engaged couple opened up about how adapting to life as parents hasn’t been an easy task.
“Breastfeeding was tricky and took its toll, and her sleep wasn’t great once she had passed the newborn stage – the only time she napped was on me or in the car or pram,” Emmerdale actress Amy explained.
“I didn’t leave the house for eight months, barely, and if I did it’d be a couple of hours close by so I could rush home if she needed me,” the 35-year-old added.
Amy’s fiancé Toby went on to explain that parenthood really took its toll on their relationship. “The highs are so high, but when you reach those lows… There was one particularly tough day and I remember we both sat down and said, ‘This is really hard, isn’t it?’”, the former EastEnders actor reminisced. “We were like passing ships – we lived together but we wouldn’t see each other apart from the handover.”
However, the pair explained that things eventually improved with their daughter. “It got better when Bonnie started sleeping,” recalled Amy. “As soon as she was sleeping, we got our evenings back, which has been life-changing – we’re enjoying her so much more and she’s so much happier. It’s not to say we didn’t enjoy the first eight months, we’ve just found it a bit tougher,” the new mum said candidly.
Despite their challenging first year of parenting, Amy and Toby haven’t ruled out having another child soon. “When Bonnie was really hard we were like, ‘There’s no way we can do this any time soon’ but now she’s getting easier we’re like, ‘Shall we just push another one out before the wedding?’”, Amy joked, with the pair planning to wed in 2024.
“Bonnie loves spending time with us,” 31-year-old Toby added. “She loves her cousins. She just loves people so it would be nice for her to have the companionship of a sibling.”
We hope the family-of-three enjoys Bonnie’s first birthday celebrations!
