Taylor Swift was halfway through her folklore set at the MCG when Tenille Smith felt her first contraction.
It was Swift’s first concert in Melbourne, the stadium was bursting with joy and goodwill, and in many ways, Smith felt as though a lifetime of fandom had culminated in this night. Her first time seeing Swift live.
Swifty Tenille Smith and her baby Sloane Tayla Smith, born at 1.20am Saturday.Credit: Penny Stephens
“I’d never seen her before,” the 29-year-old said. “There was no way I was giving up my ticket”.
Smith, who was already two days past her due date, decided to take a seat and hang on until the end.
“When I started feeling the contractions I just basically put on a poker face and tried to get through it,” she recalls.
“Taylor Swift hasn’t toured here in ages and no one knows for sure when she will be back again, so I knew I wasn’t going to leave,” she explained. “Plus my favourite song is Cruel Summer, which was at the start of the show, so I was happy to sit down for the rest.”
She had felt contradictions earlier in the morning, but dismissed them as Braxton Hicks.
“I was sort of in denial and, honestly, just wanted to hold on until midnight,” she said. “There was no way I was missing that concert, plus I was pretty sure the baby wasn’t going to come that day.”
Source Agencies
