'He fought through it and he’s good now': The 2 Johnnies star on birth of baby boy

Johnny ‘Smacks’ McMahon announced on Sunday that he recently welcomed his baby boy into the world

Johnny Smacks of The 2 Johnnies announces the arrival of baby boy, JJ. Picture: The 2 Johnnies/Instagram.

The 2 Johnnies star Johnny ‘Smacks’ McMahon has spoken out about his and his partner’s pregnancy journey after their baby boy was diagnosed with gastroschisis at just 14 weeks.

Speaking on the latest episode of the 2 Johnnies Podcast, McMahon opened up about his fertility journey, how important it is for males to talk about these issues, his and his wife Annie’s reaction to becoming pregnant, and the complications that followed.

On Sunday, McMahon posted on Instagram to announce the birth of his baby boy, saying he would be talking on Monday’s podcast about the good news.

The podcaster and entertainer began by announcing that he has become a dad, describing it on the podcast as a big change in his life.

He spoke about his son’s diagnosis of gastroschisis, a type of abdominal wall defect that occurs when a child’s abdomen does not develop fully while in the womb, which can lead to the intestines developing outside.

He went on to say that Christmas will look a little different this year as his son JJ remains in the hospital, where he is getting stronger every day.

“There’s a car seat in the car waiting to be filled, and someday we’ll fill it, and we’ll drive back down the motorway with him,” he said.

Opening up about the challenges he and his wife Annie had when trying to conceive, he said: “We were trying and trying… trying and then trying more. In my group of friends, a lot of the lads have kids. There are a few of us who didn’t, and the whole fertility thing is something lads don’t talk about.” 

He said they had been trying for a year and a half and said that he didn’t know what the problem was.

After turning to Google, he ordered a home kit to check his sperm count, which turned out to be quite low. Ordering an even better home kit that also showed a low sperm count, he decided to contact a fertility clinic.

“It’s a weird feeling because I had it in my head that I knew it was me. I felt so bad for her that I couldn’t do this. We have so much going for us, life and work-wise, I was like… the one thing. There’s no magic fix for this,” he said.

He shared his experience at the fertility clinic and how he went on to give up alcohol, eat healthily, and try royal jelly.

McMahon said the fact that they couldn’t get pregnant was consuming him.

Months later, after returning home from a trip to America, Annie surprised him with the news that she was pregnant on the night before he was due to return to the fertility clinic.

“Maybe I wasn’t thinking about it as much, I wasn’t stressed, and I was eating healthy, and I was training, and I was on royal jelly and wasn’t drinking, and maybe that mattered for nearly the three months. But it did the job. She was pregnant. I was relieved,” he said.

“And I know there’s going to be people who’ve had much worse in terms of fertility, you know, they probably can’t have babies, or there’s other problems, and they go through IVF, and I can’t imagine what that’s like. I only know how stressful it was for me to have to only go this far.” 

After nearly two years of trying to conceive, and finally becoming pregnant, McMahon said they had a 12-week scan and were asked to come back for a 14-week scan.

“I had never heard of a 14-week scan, but I didn’t question it. What did I know about it? I’d never been through it,” he said.

At the 14-week scan, the consultant told them there was a problem and explained that their baby had gastroschisis.

“I went on the internet, which is probably what you shouldn’t do, but I wanted to read up and find out as much as I could about it [gastroschisis], and I watched documentaries and all that. I’m glad I did all that stuff,” he said.

At the 20-week scan, they found out that everything else was good, which he said was a relief.

He spoke about his experience taking a prenatal class before he delved into the details of the birth, for which they had to travel to Dublin.

When they arrived in Dublin, they were told their baby would be delivered by C-section, with McMahon explaining how difficult the birth was for both of them.

He explained that when JJ was born, he had to be taken into a separate room, and that they couldn’t have skin-on-skin contact as his bowel had developed outside his abdomen.

McMahon described the emotion of the day – seeing his son for the first time, being there for Annie who had gone through a major procedure, and having their son transported from The Coombe Hospital to Crumlin Hospital for his surgery, which he said was particularly difficult on Annie, who couldn’t see her son for those two days while she recovered.

He spoke about how JJ had made great progress after those surgeries, but that one night, they received a call from the hospital.

They were informed that something was wrong and another operation was needed.

“That few hours was hell. We were sitting there waiting to find out if he had made it,” he said.

After what was his third surgery, JJ began to get better and went on to have a fourth surgery, eventually moving from the ICU to a normal ward.

Both McMahon and his podcast co-host, and the other half of the 2 Johnnies, Johnny ‘B’ O'Brien, teared up as McMahon spoke about JJ pulling through.

“He fought through it, and he’s good now. He’s still in hospital, and we don’t know how long, but he’s out of the woods now and he's stable,” he said.

McMahon and Annie will continue to live in Dublin while JJ is in hospital, with McMahon saying he cannot wait to bring baby JJ home to Cahir.

“I’m just waiting for Annie to snap that picture of me holding the baby, walking out the door of Crumlin. I’ll do some crying when I get to leave there, I’ll tell you. But the staff, I can’t say enough about them, they’ve been unbelievable,” he said.

As a thank you for the care McMahon and his family received, the 2 Johnnies are set to take to the stage at the 3Arena next Easter for a charity family show.

The 2 Johnnies Big Big Family Show will take place at the 3Arena on Monday, April 6, where the Tipperary lads will be joined on stage by special guests Garron Noone and Marty Mone.

All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Children’s Health Foundation. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday at 9am.

• Experiencing fertility problems or going through fertility treatment may be stressful or upsetting for you and your partner. For more information on the help and support available to you click here.