Sofia Richie Grainge experienced 'active labour' for six weeks at the end of her pregnancy
"I had a great pregnancy up until about 32 weeks"
Sofia Richie Grainge had a great pregnancy experience, but when she hit the 32 week mark things started to go awry.
In a recent episode of the podcast SHE MD, the new mum spoke to hosts, Mary Alice Haney and Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, about how her labour was less than conventional — in fact, it went on for six weeks.
"I had a great pregnancy up until about 32 weeks. I woke up one morning and I texted Dr. A and was like, 'Hey, I woke up and I'm really tired today. My back really hurts. I feel a little crampy,'" she shared. "I really thought it was going to be another one of those, 'Yeah, babe, that's pregnancy. You're going to be fine, but you can come in if you want me to check you' type situations. But instead, she was like, 'You know what? Actually, I think you should go see the foetal specialist to monitor, to make sure that everything's okay, and then you'll go home. It's not a big deal.'"
However, after running some tests and monitoring the condition of the 26 year old's pregnancy, doctors informed her that it was actually something to be concerned about.
"I was really terrified," Richie Grainge admitted to the podcast hosts. "Thank God she said that, because they hooked me up to the monitor and they were like, 'You're in active labour.'”
After those initial tests, doctors asked the mum-to-be to stay in hospital for a total of six days so that staff could monitor the health of Richie Grainge and her baby.
However, the chaos didn't end there, after being sent home and put on bed rest the 26 year old experienced active labour symptoms for a total of six weeks, until her doctors decided to induce her at 38 weeks.
For most women the prospect of labouring for just a few hours sounds exhausting — six weeks of discomfort and cramping sounds unbearable. But according to the new mum the pain was worth it in the end.
"I had a fantastic delivery," she told Haney and Aliabadi. "I gave birth and I was like, 'Wow, I really did that,’ I did six weeks or however many weeks of contractions and I have my beautiful daughter. I'm healthy. I'm safe. She's healthy. She's safe."
But just two days after the joyous welcome of her daughter, Eloise Samantha Grainge, the new mum started to show symptoms of postpartum preeclampsia.
"I went home and I blew up like a balloon. Quite literally, just swelled," she explained to the podcast hosts. "I felt very ill... So [my doctor] sent over her wonderful nurse and my blood pressure was 165 over 103, which is like [not good]."
"The hardest thing I ever had to do, I think literally, was leave my daughter two days postpartum. It was horrendous. I actually hid in the closet and cried," she admitted. "My poor husband was like, 'I have to get you to the hospital because the doctor is saying it's just not safe. It's not safe that you're home. So I spent 24 hours in the hospital and it was really, really, really hard."
"My mom guilt kicked in. I don't know why, from the second Eloise was born, I was like, 'I can't miss an awake time. I can't miss a moment. I don't want someone else taking care of my kid,'" she went on to say.
Even though Eloise is now three months old and Richie Grainge's health is at a great place again, she still has regrets about missing those initial days with her daughter.
"When my pregnancy was over, I was like, 'I miss that,'" Sofia shared. "It’s such an intimate moment being able to share one space with your child that you never get back. Your kid comes out and you share your kid with everyone, which is magical, but that moment with your child is so special."
Main image credit: @sofiagrainge
Sofia Richie Grainge isn't the only celebrity who's been open about their postpartum struggles. Kylie Jenner came clean about the realities of postpartum blues after the birth of her son.
Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).
