After marrying on TV as complete strangers just two years ago, Jules and Cam Merchant – who met on the 2019 season of Married at First Sight and are now a real-life married couple – can’t believe they’re finally holding their longed-for first child, Oliver Chase Merchant.
WATCH: MAFS’ Jules and Cam Merchant welcome their son.
Their baby boy was born at Sydney’s Northern Beaches Hospital at 12.19am on September 29, weighing in at 2.83kg and measuring 52cm tall.
“He’s already taller than me,” quips proud new dad Cam, 36.
But Oliver’s arrival and first days haven’t been without drama, with Jules hospitalised twice during her pregnancy.
Little Oliver also had to undergo a procedure shortly after birth to help him feed.
“It’s been an incredibly emotional time,” Jules, 38, exclusively tells WHO.
Here, the smitten couple introduce their adorable boy and open up about his arrival and adjusting to parenthood.
“We’re so in love,” adds Jules.
Firstly, a huge congratulations to you both. How are you feeling?
JULES: We’re on such a high right now and both feeling good, too. We’re adapting well to having this little man in our lives and tag teaming the jobs between us, but he’s such a good baby – so far. He’s very calm; all he does is eat, sleep, poo and repeat!
CAM: I’m just completely and utterly in love. Now that we’re home, I find myself just staring at him in pure happiness and awe.
How was labour for you, Jules?
JULES: I got my birth wish. I was incredibly lucky to give birth to Oliver in four hours, naturally. Both Cam and I had done The Birth Collective’s incredible hypnobirthing class prior and it really helped us to stay calm. My waters broke at home and I rang Cam, who was at cricket training at the time, and told him that things were happening.
CAM: I wanted to rush home but she told me to finish the training session. She was so strong, she was like, “Everything’s fine.”
JULES: I rang the hospital and said, “I think something is happening but it could be a false alarm.” We were at 40 weeks plus one day, so they advised us to come in. An hour and a half later I came sliding into the hospital, hardly able to walk because I was having three contractions every 10 minutes by that stage. Then just over four hours after my waters broke, and with the help of my TENS machine and a little gas, little Ollie Chase was born – on my dad Peter’s birthday.
Had you been well in the lead up to the birth?
JULES: I felt well most of the way through, but I was hospitalised for a few days at 18 weeks with a fibroid, and then again at 22 weeks when I woke up one night in a pool of blood – that was terrifying!
CAM: We were already in love with the idea of being parents but when that happened, I realised I already loved my child so much – the feelings were intense. Thankfully, everything was OK. It was an unexplained bleed and Jules recovered. But we were so relieved to hear our baby’s heartbeat when that happened.
How did you decide on a name?
CAM: We didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl, but Jules and I had picked out our girl’s name while we were still filming Married at First Sight!
JULES: Cam was away on a golf trip a few weeks before I was due and I was Googling names. I really liked Oliver because it made me think of olive branches and forgiveness. I wanted a really strong middle name and when I found out that Chase means “hunter”, I was like, “That’s it! He’ll be a little go-getter with a name like that.” From then on, he was little Ollie Chase to us.
CAM: We actually sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him just after he was born. When we got to the name bit, Jules and I looked at one another and sang “Happy birthday dear … Oliver” in unison. It was so cool.
Was Cam a good birth partner, Jules?
JULES: Absolutely. Cam was incredible on the day. He’d stuck beautiful birthing affirmation cards around the delivery suite, and he cut Ollie’s cord – even though he gets squeamish when we watch TV series Botched!
CAM: Watching the birth of my son was the most special moment of my life.
JULES: We were both in tears, it was super emotional. This was the moment we’d been waiting for. We’re very proud of each other.
Was Oliver OK? Is he feeding well?
JULES: He’s feeding so well now. But just after he was born we found out he had a tongue-tie, which made latching on to breastfeed really difficult. His tongue was stuck down so he was using his jaw on me, which was really painful. It was really hard at first but when he had the procedure to free his tongue, things improved. Now my midwife jokes he’d eat a cheeseburger if we gave him one!
Oliver’s still tiny but would you like to add to your family one day?
JULES: Absolutely – give us 18 months! For now though, we’re just completely in love. Oliver is my biggest achievement by far. I felt so powerful when I held him in my arms. It’s a magical time.
CAM: He really is gorgeous, isn’t he?! We couldn’t be happier.
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