Former Fair City star Jenny Dixon has described giving birth to her “miracle twin girls” as a “dream come true” for Mother’s Day.
The Dubliner welcomed daughters Bella Sky and Capri Luca on February 20 with her husband, former Fine Gael TD Tom Neville.
Jenny, who conceived via IVF, opened up about her first few weeks of motherhood and how it’s changed everything.
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Jenny told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I’m very new to motherhood. But when I see or hear the little lip go or the little whimper, I’m like, ‘Who did this and where are they?’
“I do the magic mum finger soothing trick on their cheek. It’s powerful, I love it.”
The twins were born early via C section weighing just 4lb each and are currently being cared for in the Rotunda Hospital’s neonatal unit.
Award-winning actress Jenny believes that through motherhood she has discovered a well of inner strength she didn’t know she had.
She said: “That soothing magic power feels like I’m a bit of a superhero discovering their power for the first time.
“It’s amazing to look into the eyes of your daughter and see yourself looking back, while at the same time it’s a whole new person, half of my beautiful husband and half of me.
“Seeing all of their beauty, energy, love and potential.
“To have my first Mother’s Day with my two beautiful baby daughters is a dream come true and a moment I’ll cherish.
“We’ll spend quite a bit of time with Bella and Capri for Mother’s Day at the neonatal unit giving all the cuddles and storybooks and, of course, nappy changing too.
“I have to keep reminding myself that I have two daughters.”
Jenny said her own mum Pamela has been her rock since the twins were born, as she revealed the inspiration behind their beautiful and unusual names.
She added: “I knew to anticipate all the hormones, but it was like two days later when my mam came in, it was what I needed.
“I told her in person their names, she loved them. Bella is the lady who raised my mam’s mother, her aunt Bella.
“So it’s an ode to the generations and also her sister was Belle.
“My family always predicted I’d have a Belle or Isabella, we got engaged in Capri so that’s the reason for the names.” The twins were born early via a planned C Section, as they were monoamniotic, sharing the one sac.
Besotted mum Jenny has been going to the neonatal unit at the Rotunda every day to visit her angels.
She said: “Around 0.1% of pregnancies are monoamniotic so we had to be careful and they were delivered a little earlier.”
Whilst hubby Tom has been reciting monologues to the twins, performer Jenny has reignited her passion for singing. She said: “There’s only so many times you can read Goldilocks. Singing becomes like this little club that only you guys know about.
“There’s a song called Girl Crush which I quite love, it’s a country song, another is Don’t Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”
Doting dad Tom nearly missed out on spoiling Jenny for Mother’s Day because he was over-eager and got the date wrong.
Jenny added: “He booked a brunch last Sunday for Mother’s Day and wondered why it was so easy to get a booking, only to realise he was a week early.”
The twins will stay in the neonatal unit for a few more days before their doting parents get to bring them home. Jenny said: “The nurses have been amazing, telling us not to worry when they are hiccuping, quashing our anxiety.
“We are excited, anxious and emotional all at the same time.”
Jenny revealed how their little personalities are already forming.
Bella is “expressive and tactile” grabbing Tom’s chest hair, while Capri is “more laid back”. She added: “They’re just like they were in the womb.”
Jenny, who played Kerry Ann on Fair City, said she’s been blown away by all the love received from her former colleagues on the RTE soap.
She said: “They were some of the first to call, text and message.
“It was very special. It meant a lot.
“Having worked so closely together for years, long hours, emotional storylines we shared, the messages of love were so heartfelt. It felt like family.”
The ecstatic mum heaped praise on the power of IVF which helped her dream of having a family come true.
Jenny added: “From the journey of assisted fertility, to the neonatal, all the hundreds of people that work in the sector from an embryo on to neonatal, it’s just amazing.”
With a science degree behind her, IVF has “awakened” Jenny’s interest in the field of fertility.
She said: “Some adopt, some do IVF, some go down the surrogacy route, some foster, it’s so progressive. For us we got married and then we just went for it on our minimoon. It was about two years of waiting through IVF and even when we got pregnant there was a lot of monitoring.
“Yes, we had losses and I’ve said from the start it was a journey, we thought it would never happen and then it did.
“It was a mixture of faith, science, positivity and determination.”
Becoming a mum is the “icing on the cake” for Jenny this Mother’s Day.
She added: “It’s a good news story in post-Covid times.
“They’re beautiful. I’m biased, but they’re my perfect miracles.”
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