Former Shortland Street actor Rebekah Randell has shared the story behind the arrival of her second daughter — a pregnancy that began with fear, bled into secrecy on set, and ended with a joyful surprise in an Auckland delivery room.
Randell, who played Dawn Robinson on the long-running New Zealand soap, discovered she was pregnant late last year. The early weeks were rough: cramping and bleeding left her and partner Bevan bracing for the worst. They deliberately held back from getting excited, a caution shaped by previous miscarriages. "Having a family is a journey rather than something that just happens," she says, noting that once she spoke openly about pregnancy loss, other people's similar stories kept surfacing.
The timing was awkward in another way. The pregnancy coincided with a six-week return to Shortland Street, and she kept the news quiet while battling constant morning sickness — turning up on set, she jokes, looking like a zombie and throwing up between takes. It was only at the 20-week scan that she let the wall down and believed the baby was really coming.
Bonnie arrived on January 14 at Auckland Hospital, via an elective Caesarean. After an emergency C-section with first daughter Isla two years earlier, Randell had booked the elective procedure — then got a welcome shock of her own: the same anaesthetist, Henry, happened to be on duty again. His presence, she says, turned her nerves into confidence. Just before noon, a 3.2kg girl was born — a genuine surprise, since everyone, including Bevan, had assumed a boy. Bevan has taken to being a girl dad quickly, even if he needed a few seconds to let go of visions of future beers with a son. Bonnie's middle name, Christine, honours his mother.
The other worry — how toddler Isla would handle a sibling — never materialised. Two-year-old Isla has embraced big-sister duties with enthusiasm, fetchingly so: when Bonnie had a major spit-up, Isla grabbed the wipes with an "I've got it, Mum." Randell says the pair adore each other, and she loves that Bonnie will never know a life without her sister.
Why does this run on a travel site? Because Randell's story resonates with the growing number of readers who travel around family milestones — babymoons planned during uncertain pregnancies, trips home for births, and holidays rethought around toddlers. Her candid account of miscarriage, and her reminder that fertility isn't straightforward for everyone, is a useful, humane note for anyone planning around the same reality.
For now, Randell is parked happily at home in Auckland with her daughters — playdates, dancing, Playcentre and "fluffies" on the menu — though she's open to acting roles when the right one appears. "It's the best job in the world," she says of motherhood. "I know when I'm 80, I'll be like, those were the best days of my life."
Story via NZ Herald Travel.