Olympian Libby Trickett in 'shock' after 'surprise' c-section

Congratulations are in order for Olympic swimmer Libby Trickett and her husband Luke after they welcomed their third child, a daughter, on Thursday.

Proud mum Libby (née Lenton) took to Instagram to announce the arrival of their ‘little girl’ - the couple’s third - who they’ve named Bronte Rose Trickett.

The gold-medallist shared a gorgeous snap of the new parents beaming with their newborn bub in what appears to be the delivery room.

While Libby looks happy and glowing, she revealed that Bronte’s birth wasn’t so straightforward.

Libby’s ‘surprise’ c-section

The record-breaking freestyle swimmer wrote that, like her older sisters Poppy and Eddie, Bronte had also arrived ‘a couple of weeks early’.

“Luke and I are so thrilled to announce that our third(!) little girl, Bronte Rose Trickett arrived into the world (a couple of weeks early - just like her big sisters!) on the 7th of November at 4.22 am,” she wrote.

She went on to reveal that after an ‘eventful induction,’ Bronte had ‘spun into breech’ position meaning her legs and bottom were facing the cervix, not her head.

Libby said she’d undergone a ‘successful ECV’ or external cephalic version which is a manual procedure that aims to reposition a breech baby, however, Bronte had other ideas and wanted to ‘high five our OB [obstetrician] on the way out!’

In the end, Bronte was welcomed via ‘a surprise c-section’ weighing in at 3.7kg and 54.5cm long, with Libby admitting that she was ‘still slightly in shock’ that her little girl wasn’t a little boy.

“We can't believe how lucky and blessed we are to have brought another gorgeous little girl into our lives! Still slightly in shock as I was so sure it was a boy in there but as soon as she came out, we knew our little family was complete,” she wrote.

“We are so in love, Poppy is a ridiculously excited big sister and Eddie is still trying to understand what is going on,” she signed off.

Boy or girl?

Libby, who won gold at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, made sure to keep fit during her third pregnancy, and was in the gym squatting 50kg as recently as Monday.

She remarked on Instagram how her experience had been much ‘easier’ than her previous pregnancies which left her feeling ‘ridiculously awful,’ leading her to suspect that she would give birth to a boy.

Earlier in October, however, Libby revealed that she was suffering from ‘gestational hypertension’ which is characterised by abnormally high blood pressure.

Happily, though, both mum and bub appear to be doing well.

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