Dannii Minogue is finally feeling better after a year-long battle with a thyroid issue left her drained and exhausted.
The former X Factor judge was ecstatic when she gave birth to her son Ethan in 2010, but was back in hospital shortly after due to a bout of appendicitis.
She was left tired and rundown in the subsequent weeks, but put it down to being a new mum - until she was diagnosed with an under-active thyroid.
At the time she likened the condition to "running a car without petrol" - but now she's on the road to recovery after a year of feeling "wiped out".
Speaking to S magazine, she says: "I feel better but the whole of last year was wiped out. The thyroid thing is not a quick fix. You need to monitor your blood all the time - maybe for ever - but I keep grasping on to the hope that this is not permanent.
"It's been frustrating, but hey-ho. Everyone has got stuff to go through. I'm just happy to be at the other end of it now."
After her diagnosis, the Aussie pop star revealed her spate of ill health had affected her relationship with partner Kris Smith.
She explained: "I was finding it hard to pick up Ethan and I was thinking, 'I'm a new mum, I know I'm tired but surely it can't be this hard?'. When you've just had a baby you think it must be normal tiredness. But it got to the point where I thought, 'This cannot be normal'.
"Poor Kris. He was thinking after getting through the pregnancy and the baby that everything would be just fine and he couldn't work out why I wasn't well. It was bloody difficult."
Dannii was putting off thinking about more kids until she was fully fit, but, despite admitting she feels broody again, the star is still in two minds as to whether to expand her family.
She adds: "I do look at newborns and I want to snatch them, but then I think about having two kids and it would be difficult."
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