Rock the baby!
DJ dads’ bubba boom
There is definitely something in the water at The Rock! Radio hosts Bryce Casey, Jim Cawthorn and Duncan Heyde are all about to become first-time dads, with their babies due just a few weeks apart.
It’s a big moment for everyone, but most of all for The Morning Rumble’s Bryce.
The radio star and his wife, The Edge host Sharyn, 30, have been trying for six years to start a family, suffering three tragic miscarriages along the way.
“I’ve wanted to be a dad for a long time,” tells Bryce, 38. “Everyone kept telling us it would happen, but you start to not believe them.”
Now that his little boy is only a few weeks from being born, Bryce can only think of one way to describe how he’s feeling right now.
“Special is a word I’d use,” he says with a smile. “We didn’t know anything about miscarriages till we had one. There’s definitely a silence around the topic, so one of the positives to come out of all this has been encouraging people to talk about it, especially with a lot of guy listeners on the radio.
“It’s a lot for your lady to go through, but it’s also quite hard for the guy because you don’t know what to do – you feel a little bit lost at times.”
While Bryce was meant to keep this latest pregnancy a secret for the first few weeks, he couldn’t help but spill the beans to his colleague and friend of 10 years, Duncan, 32. He grins, “We’d both had a couple of drinks and I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone yet, but I did, then he just laughed and said, ‘Same!’”
Soon after, their friend Jim, 31, spilled his news and the impending fatherhood has only brought the three amigos closer, with Bryce and Sharyn even attending prenatal classes with Duncan and his partner Dixie, 32.
“It’s just like the movies – they make you wear the pregnancy belly and they gave us popcorn to watch a pregnancy video,” says Duncan. “Dixie cried. And so did Bryce!” But the Drive host insists it was simply because the video had a “great soundtrack”.
Despite all the jokes and laughter at the Woman’s Day photo shoot, when it comes to fatherhood, the boys are taking it seriously and are glad to have each other.
“When I was younger, I had so much energy,” says Duncan. “If my kid’s anything like that, I’m going to need these guys’ kids to come over and wear them out!”
Bellylaughs
With no family in Auckland, Duncan will be relying on his friends a lot. But so far, Jim says it’s been Duncan who’s helped him out with the puzzling stages of pregnancy.
“The other day, my wife Daniela was saying, ‘Look, the baby is moving – feel it!’ and of course I couldn’t feel a bloody thing,” recalls Jim. “But I was talking to Dunc about it and he had the same issue. He told me the little vibrations were the baby moving. I just thought that was the liquid in her belly!”
Asked who’s most likely to have the cheekiest, most rebellious baby, Bryce laughs, “Well, given that we do the same job, we all have a lot to say and lots of energy, so it’s going to be a real lottery about whose child will be the loudest. I just hope mine sleeps a lot. I love sleeping, so I’m hoping my boy takes after me!”
While Bryce may not be prepared for the late nights on the horizon, these jokesters can’t wait for their new family members to arrive.
Jim tells, “When I first found out my wife was pregnant, it was a bit scary, but as time has gone on, just watching her and that belly getting bigger and bigger, it’s made me a lot more ready to be a dad.”
Bryce adds, “I’m not sure if anyone could really say they feel ready for parenthood with absolute authority, but all I know is that we’ve wanted it for so long and, as I said with our miscarriages, we now really appreciate the fact we are lucky enough to get the chance.”