In an exclusive photoshoot and interview with HELLO!, Lydia Bright has introduced her baby girl Loretta Rose to the world. Loretta, who weighed in at 7lbs 11 when she arrived on Friday 21 February, is "a dream child", says the star, inviting HELLO! into the home she is currently refurbishing complete with a nursery, with a pram-style cot, opulent chandelier and pink ballpit, which is fit for a princess. "I'm still on a massive high at the moment. I'm not even struggling with the sleep! I'm loving the night feeds," says Lydia. "That's my favourite time. I sit there breastfeeding and I just stare at her. I definitely feel like I've been blessed with a dream child."
WATCH: Take a peek inside Lydia Bright's stunning baby nursery
Lydia – glowing, calm and clearly in her element as a mother – has even further happy news to reveal. She has rebuilt her relationship with Loretta's father Lee Cronin, from whom she split when she was 11 weeks pregnant. "We're getting on really well," she reveals. "Loretta was planned – this was always something we were going to do. So we decided to build up a relationship again. I didn't want to be angry anymore – what's happened has happened, I'm not going to hold a grudge."
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Lydia was shocked when, early on in her pregnancy, Lee decided he didn't want them to be together. "Back then I was so nervous about it coming out that I was making this decision to go it alone. We all dream of this fairytale of a perfect family and I felt like I had failed." However car garage owner Lee, who cut the cord and was "amazing" during the birth, for which he and Lydia's mum Debbie were present, has spent time showing her he wants to make amends. He even changed Loretta's first three nappies.
Lydia welcomed her baby girl on 21 February
"Now we're in a good place and I do love him, of course I do," says Lydia, star of The Brights podcast; the latest series of which documented her pregnancy. "I would love to think that we're going to be a family, and told him that if he could prove it to me between then and when the baby arrived then I would give things another shot. So that's what we're trying to do at the moment. Equally, I know that if it didn't work out and we tried, we could be great friends and Loretta would always be our priority. Is he my boyfriend? We haven't really had that discussion. We're committed to being a family, but nobody has a crystal ball at the end of the day."
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The exclusive shoot comes shortly after Lydia exclusively announced the birth of her daughter with HELLO! in February. "My darling girl has arrived. I am so overwhelmed with love, she is absolutely perfect," Lydia said at the time. She also shared the very first photo of her beautiful newborn, showing her holding her tiny hand. Lydia has long dreamt of becoming a mother, and in August last year she shared her pregnancy joy in an exclusive interview with HELLO! magazine. "I know that this baby will be the best thing that's ever happened to me," said the star.
The new mum is also rebuilding her relationship with her baby's father Lee Cronin
The following month, Lydia discovered she was expecting a little girl at a gender reveal party. "I wasn't bothered either way, girl or boy, but I do think that now I know it's a girl it's that little bit more special," she shared. "She'll be my best friend. Me and Mum are really close and I love our relationship – I'm hoping that me and my daughter have something just as special, just as strong."
"I can't wait to decorate her room," she enthuses. "The boy's room would have been lovely, but the girl's room, I'll make it all pink, a proper princess… I don't care if it's tacky. My kid is definitely not going to be gender neutral. I'm having tutus, flowery dresses… I want my girl to be very, very girly."
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