Lottie Ryan has said that she’s ‘finally’ met her niece Winnie after her sister Bonnie gave birth.
Bonnie, the second-eldest daughter of broadcasting legend Gerry Ryan, welcomed baby Winnie into the world after a gruelling IVF journey, which she and her husband John Greenhalgh described as long and ‘fragile.’
With Bonnie and John living in the US while eldest child Lottie remains in Ireland, Lottie revealed that she hadn’t met her little niece yet — until Thursday evening, when Winnie finally got to meet her aunt Lottie, and her big cousin, Wolf.
Taking to her Instagram story, Lottie teased: ‘And finally she’s here…’ before sharing an adorable video of her holding and rocking baby Winnie.
Sharing another photo of baby Winnie’s hand, Lottie wrote that she is ‘lost for words’ at how perfect her niece is.
‘I’m lost for words at how wonderful our little Winnie is,’ Lottie wrote, ‘She’s utterly perfect. Meeting her yesterday was so special, and getting to see Wolf hold her was just pure magic.’
‘@BonnieRyan – how do we have kids!?’ she added. ‘It’s still so surreal for me.’
Bonnie announced the arrival of baby Winnie back in May, after she and her husband had undergone a failed round of IVF treatment, which she said took a physical toll on her.
‘This journey hasn’t been easy,’ she said. ‘After a failed IVF round last year, a really tough period of processing that, then making the hard decision to do our next treatment in Ireland, travelling back and forth, missing John, but knowing we were doing it for the greater good.’
‘This last summer, my body felt like it was completely letting me down again, virus after virus, pneumonia, exhaustion, and I truly lost trust in it for a while,’ she explained.
Bonnie went on to describe the moment everything changed: ‘Then, somehow, with luck and hope, that test said positive,’ she said.
Despite getting the news they wanted, Bonnie admitted that the first few months of pregnancy were fraught with anxiety, adding: ‘The first months were filled with worry and felt touch-and-go, so we chose to keep this just ours until we were home in Ireland and could tell our families properly.
‘I’ve never felt love like it, getting to share the news. They knew how much we wanted this and how much I’ve carried over the last while. We’re so excited to begin this next chapter.’
