Saved By The Bell - Thiessen Treasures Baby After Nightmare Birth

Former SAVED BY THE BELL star TIFFANI THIESSEN is thankful her newborn daughter is fit and healthy after a nightmare birth.

The actress and her husband Brady Smith welcomed their first child, Harper Renn Smith, in June (10), but Thiessen reveals her smooth pregnancy turned complicated as soon as she went into labour.

The baby girl was delivered by Cesarean section after 30 hours in a Los Angeles hospital and the star admits the tiring process was "very surreal".

She says, "First my water didn't break; they had to do it for me. Then the baby wasn't descending, because the cord was wrapped around her neck.

"Once she was finally out, I didn't even get to hold her before they whisked her away. You're staring across the room, like, 'Hello? Over here!' The whole thing was very surreal."

Thiessen, who introduces the world to little Harper in a photoshoot for this week's (begs19Jul10) People magazine, insists home life with her daughter has been much less dramatic and she's still marvelling at her bundle of joy.

She says, "She sleeps anywhere from three to four hours at a time at night, which is not bad. It's a lot of work. This is a kind of love that you never really knew about. You haven't known this person for very long, but you love them so much."

Thiessen and Smith wed in 2005.