The short version
- Actress and podcaster Emilie Skolmen experienced a miscarriage before her son Jon (2) was born, which affected her greatly.
- She wants more people to talk about miscarriages, which are more common than many people think.
- Skolmen feels safer and dares to bet more after becoming a mother. That is why she is now starting her own brand, Fiona Stories, with clothes for pregnant women. She has plans to expand with equipment and products for mother and child.
Sea view
– I had a little anxiety yesterday. It may have something to do with my cycle and, says Emilie Skolmen and laughs.
– But it’s scary to start something completely new like I’m doing now.
The actress and podcaster is now in the process of entering a completely new industry that she discovered when she became pregnant over two and a half years ago.
The 31-year-old is sitting at the kitchen table in the apartment in the heart of Grünerløkka. She lives there with her son Jon (2) and her partner Henrik Aspeflaten.
They met six years ago through mutual friends at a party.
– I break danced and he obviously fell for it. So since then it’s been us, she laughs.
Mum Tine Skolmen and little sister Alma live just a stone’s throw away from Emilie. She likes to have her family close, she explains.
OPENS UP: – I have realized in retrospect that miscarriages are much more common than I thought, she says. Photo: Thea Roll Rakeng/VG
– The spontaneous abortion hit me very hard
Emilie has always dreamed of becoming a mother, and has really settled into the role of mother since her early 20s.
– Starting my own family has always been a dream. I have probably been ready to become a mother for many years.
Therefore, the joy was great when Emilie became pregnant for the first time in 2021, but the happiness was unfortunately short-lived.
– I was quite far along when I had a miscarriage, before I had Jon. I had managed to tell mum and dad on Christmas Eve, and received the first baby present.
It was during a toilet visit that she noticed she was bleeding. The bleeding would not stop throughout the day, it just came more and more, she explains.
– The spontaneous abortion hit me very hard. I got a little depressed afterwards. Almost everything was closed because it was Christmas Eve, so I found an ultrasound clinic in the city center and went there with tears flowing behind the mask. I remember a strange man walking past me and making a comment like: “It’s actually allowed to smile!” Now I’m on the verge, I thought.
PREGNANT WITH JON: Right after sailing across the Atlantic with a number of other famous faces, Emilie became pregnant with her son Jon. Today he is 2 years old. Photo: Private
Emilie was not aware of how common it is to experience a miscarriage, and wants more people to dare to talk about it together.
According to a Norwegian study, 10 to 15 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage Health Norway.
– I remember feeling so alone, and didn’t dare talk to anyone about it. If I had managed to open up while it was going on, I would probably have been better off. I realized afterwards that miscarriages are much more common than I thought, she says.
ON MOBILE HOLIDAY: Together with their roommate Henrik Aspeflaten, they own a mobile home with which they holiday. For the past two years, little Jon has been involved. Photo: Private
In week 32 of her pregnancy with Jon, she started having premature contractions, and was admitted to Rikshospitalet.
– I had had lots of acquaintances throughout my pregnancy, and was diagnosed with a short cervix. I still made it to the due date against all odds, but was quite nervous the last two months.
Starts own brand
One concern Emilie had before she became a mother was that the sense of freedom, spontaneity and flexibility she and her partner had would disappear. Today, she feels that the opposite has happened.
– I gained a completely different sense of security in myself when I became a mother. Having some framework to deal with I think laid the foundation for me. When you are completely free and can do anything – it becomes too much. I began to use my freedom in a different way, and dared to do the things I had dared to do before.
– What, for example?
– To live abroad as we did for two periods during leave with Jon. First in Stockholm for two months, and then in California. And not least starting new projects at work like Fiona. I probably wouldn’t have dared to go for it five years ago.
JON’S LITTLE WORLD: The son’s children’s room is decorated playfully and energetically. Emilie will also develop products and aids for mothers and children under her own brand in the future. Photo: Thea Roll Rakeng/VG
Emilie is in the process of launching her own brand, which has been named Fiona Stories.
In the first instance, clothes that you can wear before, during and after pregnancy are being launched, and eventually the plan is for the universe to grow larger.
Emilie believes that the time is ripe for a lifestyle brand for a changing body.
– There’s something about the feeling you get as soon as you get pregnant – now you’re about to become a mother, and then you’re not allowed to feel nice, cool or sexy anymore. I had been so looking forward to being pregnant and feeling great, but it was difficult to find any products that resonated with my style. I want women to enjoy dressing like pregnant.
Her sewing machine is in a nook in the kitchen, and fabric samples lie around. Emilie has been working on the idea for over two and a half years, and has not been able to put it down.
The products will be manufactured in Europe, and she has a player with a long history in the industry behind her.
– In a way, everything has fallen into place during the process, so it feels like something I just have to do.
THE CREATIVE CORNER: The sewing machine stands out front in a nook in the living room at Grünerløkka. Going forward, new fabric samples will be tested so that the clothes and products Emilie makes will be comfortable for growing bellies. Photo: Thea Roll Rakeng/VG
Creativity and the joy of creation are in the spinal cord from childhood. It feels good to dust off the sewing machine and really get going again, says Emilie.
– I know that I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t take the plunge and do this.
LOVES HANDWORK: Emilie has loved sewing clothes and making things since childhood. When she picked up the interest a few years ago, she was hooked. Now she will try her hand as a designer. Photo: Thea Roll Rakeng/VG
– You get a kind of new strength and courage as a mother, do you think?
– Yes, for sure. It’s amazing what you suddenly achieve. Maybe it’s that you don’t have time to think about things that much? Now I just do it. I don’t always have time to think through the consequences, and that is perhaps just as well. It’s probably positive to have less time to overthink things, she says, laughing.
– Are you an overthinker?
– Yes, of course. I don’t respond very well to changes. And I’m a hypochondriac. But things have also gotten much better since Jon came, surprisingly enough.
– I thought I was going to get a card down at the emergency room, but suddenly I have a relaxed relationship with health. It is very strange. I have much less health anxiety after having children.
– Now I don’t remember the last time I looked at my own body. Before I just sat and felt for lumps and new symptoms all the time, says Emilie and laughs as she shakes her head.
NEW CHALLENGES: – I don’t always have time to think through the consequences, and that is perhaps just as well. It is probably positive to have less time to overthink things, says Emilie. Photo: Thea Roll Rakeng/VG
– How would you describe yourself as a mother now, two years into it?
– I have had an absolutely fantastic upbringing myself, and have great role models in my life. I really look up to mum and dad when it comes to raising children and what it’s like to be a parent. They just gave me lots of love and security. As a mother myself, I am probably very loving and close. It’s not so much about performance, she says and pauses for thought before adding:
– I am keen to take Jon seriously, even though he is only two years old. I love just hanging out with him. He is such a cool little guy.