‘END OF LONG ROAD’ AS ACEN IS BORN
WHEN baby Acen Mylan was born just five days ago, it signalled the start of a new chapter for his besotted parents, Richard and Tammie.
“When we heard his cry it was the end of a very long road,” said Coupling and Grownups actor Richard. “There was a release of emotions for both of us. It was a beautiful moment.”
Two years ago, make-up artist Tammie – who met Welshman Richard on the set of BBC’s Waterloo Road – was undergoing chemotherapy and the couple feared they might never have a baby after it was discovered during her first scan that she had suffered a molar pregnancy, which occurs in around one in 1,000 pregnancies.
It meant the foetus had not formed properly and a lump of abnormal cells had grown instead.
In a few cases, this can lead to persistent trophoblastic disease (PTD), which is what happened to Tammie, and after surgery to remove the cells she had to go to London’s Charing Cross Hospital, which has a specialist unit, to undergo gruelling chemotherapy.
“Tammie was getting morning sickness but it was quite severe and she was spotting a little bit,” said Swansea-born Richard, 47, recalling the time they discovered his wife’s first pregnancy had ended in tragedy.
“We went for the first scan and they (doctors) were taking a bit longer and were frowning at each other. They then showed us what was on the scan – it was almost like a cluster of cells.
“Everything came crashing down – it went from there not being a baby there, so having that immense feeling of loss, to realising that Tammie’s life could be under threat. It was an absolute roller-coaster of emotions.”
After surgery at the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff, Tammie, who is from Dundee, underwent the chemotherapy treatment and went on to make a full recovery.
Last November, the couple, who married four years ago and live in
Cardiff, discovered they were expecting a baby and little Acen – whose name means “unity” in Latin – was born at the Health hospital on July 21, weighing almost 9lbs.
“We were delighted, as we didn’t know Tammie would get pregnant again – there was always that degree of trepidation, as we wanted everything to be OK, but the overriding feeling was that we were incredibly lucky and blessed.”
While Richard was able to go along to the first scans with Tammie, after the coronavirus outbreak the 30-year-old mum-to-be had to attend appointments alone, due to the rules around lockdown.
But her husband was able to attend the elective caesarean birth and was thrilled to return to the hospital the next day to take his new family home.
And he couldn’t wait to introduce Acen to big brother Jaco, 14, his son from a previous relationship.
Jaco featured alongside his dad in the Bafta award-winning BBC Wales documentary, Richard And Jaco: Life With Autism, after the teen was diagnosed with the condition.
“Jaco is really thrilled, he’s calling himself Acen’s big superhero brother,” smiled Richard.
As well as being busy with the new baby, Richard is also working on his first play, which is set in Swansea and is semi-autobiograpical.
“My industry has been hit hard,” he said referring to the effects of coronavirus on the TV, film and theatre industry.
“It’s grim out there so I’ve diversified and started to write. I’ve found it cathartic.”