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It's the last thing any couple wants to hear at their baby's first scan.

Dan and Steph on My Kitchen Rules.

 

 

The winners of 2013’s My Kitchen Rules, Dan and Steph Mulheron, have been open about their motivations for joining the show: desperate to start a family, they’d hoped to win cash to fund further cycles of IVF after spending almost $20,000 on the treatment before running out of money.

Armed with $250,000 prize money, the couple dove back into IVF after their win. A session with Dr Julie Lindstrom at the City Fertility Centre in Brisbane led to the discovery of Steph’s blocked fallopian tubes, which required surgery.

Afterwards, Steph fell pregnant on the first try — a result which left the couple “so over the moon,” as Steph told the Courier Mail.

“I am currently 19 and a bit weeks pregnant and feel amazing, although sometimes a bit emotional!” Steph jokes on Instagram.

After such a fraught road to pregnancy, the last thing they expected to contend with was some shocking news regarding the health of their long-awaited baby.

But that’s exactly what happened, as they told the Courier Mail in an interview yesterday: During their first baby scan at six weeks, they had some frightening news:

“We had the first scan and the baby’s heart was beating at 60 beats a minute which is not great,” Steph told the newspaper.

“We were told there was a 90 per cent chance of miscarriage. We were very devastated.”

But the subsequent scan revealed some more hopeful news.

“One week later we had another scan and the baby’s heart was 140 beats a minute which is great,” Steph said. “And we thought, ‘Wow, we have a fighter on our hands’.”

The couple have just announced via their Facebook page that they are expecting a baby girl.

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Dan and Steph will continue to manage their Hervey Bay cafe, EAT at Dan & Steph’s, throughout the pregnancy.

Check out Dan and Steph’s MKR journey in the gallery below: 

Want more? Check out this interview with Dan and Steph after they won the MKR finale.