IPSWICH: The partner of Ipswich Witches ace Scott Nicholls today told of her joy at discovering she is expecting their second child – after being told it was impossible for her to have another baby.

TV presenter Sophie Blake admits that it took ten pregnancy tests to convince her speedway champion partner that after years of pain and emotional agony they were going to have a much-longed for brother or sister for daughter Maya.

“We didn’t think there was ever a chance of this happening,” said 37-year-old Sophie, who was left with severe scarring around her cervix and uterus following a routine operation after Maya’s birth.

“The only reason I took a test was because I had shingles and I was told not to take the painkillers if there was any chance I was pregnant, I didn’t want to take the risk.

“There was a faint positive line and Scott thought I was mad, he told me it was a dud so I bought another ten.”

Scott, 32, added: “I didn’t believe her because we have had such a traumatic time over the last few years, I didn’t want to get her hopes up.”

The couple, of Bixley Road, Ipswich, shared their news with Maya, now three-and-a-half.

“She was over the moon, but she wasn’t surprised. Apparently she had been telling people mummy’s tummy was getting fat,” said Sophie.

The baby is due on May 1, but doctors will perform a cesarean before then.

“They don’t want to risk a normal delivery,” said the expectant mother.

After her daughter’s birth, the umbilical cord snapped and the placenta was not delivered.

She was rushed into surgery and doctors performed a dilation and curettage, a routine procedure to clear the womb.

However, this was unsuccessful and days later the new mum was rushed back to hospital for another operation.

Scar tissue formed as a result but it was not discovered until the couple started trying for a second baby.

Sophie was eventually diagnosed with Asherman’s syndrome and has undergone a series of operations to remove the scar tissue.

“It was blocking my cervix but it kept growing back,” she said.

“In February doctors told us the scarring was so extensive it was too much of a risk to even try and get pregnant. It was a major blow for us.”

Earlier this year the couple decided to have one last try for another child.

“I had one more operation to see if it would help the process and it worked, because at the beginning on August I discovered I was pregnant.”

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