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Scheana Shay is opening up about her “really scary” near-death birth experience
The Vanderpump Rules star shared she had HELLP syndrome, a life-threatening pregnancy complication often considered a variant of preeclampsia
Shay welcomed daughter Summer Moon in April 2021 with husband Brock Davies
Scheana Shay is opening up about her “really scary” birth experience.
While joining Not Skinny But Not Fat host Amanda Hirsch on her podcast to talk about her new memoir My Good Side, the Vanderpump Rules star, 40, spoke about everything from the biggest dramas on the hit Bravo show to her near-death birth experience. Shay, who’s a mom to daughter Summer Moon, 4, discussed her “really scary” experience with HELLP syndrome (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets), a rare pregnancy complication that mainly affects the blood and liver and can be fatal.
“I was perfectly comfortable pregnant,” Shay began, adding that she would have stayed pregnant for 11 months if she could have done that. However, Shay explained there was a caveat in waiting out her pregnancy.
“I’m supposed to go back to work on whatever it was, like May 2 [or] May 3. And that date is not changing. So we can wait out the pregnancy, see a week or two weeks, but then I could be on camera and my water breaks.”
She went on to explain that she and her doctor both agreed that she needed as much time as possible to adjust to being a new mom before returning to work. Ultimately, they both decided to induce her around her 40-week appointment.
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“While I was in labor — about 15 hours in — they tell me I have preeclampsia, [and] they need to put me on this magnesium,” she said. “It was so scary. I’m shaking uncontrollably. I’m like, oh my god. I’m killing my baby because I’m trying to force her out so I can film a TV show. What is wrong with me?”
“Thank God they did induce me because what if I did just go into labor, and I had a stroke and died because we didn’t have enough time to monitor my blood pressure and her heart rate,” she said. “It could have gone so much worse if I wasn’t being monitored for so long, so carefully.”
Shay shares her daughter with her husband Brock Davies, 35. In her new memoir My Good Side, Shay spoke about wanting to grow her family with her husband, following her experience giving birth naturally. Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE, Shay said that although she’s not yet ready for another child, she intends to explore the surrogate route “eventually.”
“He and I have had several conversations about it, and you know what, if it just wasn’t in the cards, that’s okay, but we are going to explore the surrogate route eventually,” she shared. “I froze my eggs seven years ago, so now he’s just got to fertilize them.”
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“And one step at a time, I’m not ready for another baby just yet, and I want to enjoy more time with Summer before we have a baby and we’re changing diapers and we’re trying to travel,” she continues. “And it is just going to change the entire dynamic of our little family unit.”
While Shay said she’s “really happy” with how their family is now, she’s open to reevaluating things after her daughter Summer begins kindergarten.
“Even finding a surrogate, it’s going to be a long process, so I’m open to it,” she continued. “I would love for Summer to have a sibling. I’m just not there yet, but I’m ready to take the next steps soon after book tour. I need to just get through the book tour and then we can talk baby.”
Read the original article on People
