Sofia Richie revealed she was hospitalized with preeclampsia two days after giving birth to her and husband Elliot Grainge’s baby, Eloise, in May.
“I went home and I blew up like a balloon. Quite literally, just swelled,” the socialite said on the “She MD” podcast Tuesday.
“I felt very ill … So she sent over her wonderful nurse and my blood pressure was 165 over 103.”
Podcast co-host Dr. Thais Aliabadi interjected, saying the condition Richie, 26, was experiencing was called “postpartum preeclampsia.”
According to Mayo Clinic, postpartum preeclampsia is a rare condition that occurs when you have high blood pressure and excess protein in your urine soon after childbirth.
Sofia said she “hid in the closet and cried” at the thought of having to leave her newborn to go back to the hospital for her pain and swelling.
“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,’” she recalled. “So I spent 24 hours in the hospital and it was really, really, really hard.”
Richie said her “mom guilt kicked in” because she didn’t want to “miss a moment” of her daughter’s first days after birth. She also admitted she didn’t want someone else taking care of Eloise.
“That was another thing that we talked about in the hospital. Like, ‘Yes, I feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to have people help me and to be able to have support, but I also am not interested in someone raising my kid,’” she added.
“I wouldn’t have had a kid if I wasn’t ready to take that on. So my mom guilt has been balancing those two things.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Richie revealed she had experienced contractions for six weeks before she gave birth.
“At 32 weeks, I woke up and I was like, ‘Hey, I woke up and I’m really tired today. My back really hurts. I feel a little crampy,’” she recalled. “And 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.”
Instead, the model said she sought help from a fetal specialist, who informed her she was in “active labor.”
Richie had to spend six days in the hospital until she begged to go home.
For six weeks, Richie had contractions while she was on bed rest until doctors induced her at 38 weeks.
“I had a fantastic delivery,” she shared.
“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.”
Richie and Grainge, 30, welcomed their baby girl in May.
The mom of one and the record label CEO tied the knot in April 2023.