South Australian food blogger Leah Itsines breaks down over traumatic birth story of daughter Gigi
SA food blogger Leah Itsines has bravely opened up about the trauma of what happened immediately after the birth of her first child Gigi.
Lifestyle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
South Australian food blogger Leah Itsines has broken down in tears on her podcast as she spoke about the birth story of her first child Gigi with her husband Mitch Caon.
Reluctant to first talk about the tough time the couple had following the birth of their daughter on March 7 2022, Itisnes said she was inspired to tell their story after receiving an influx of support on Instagram – where she has almost 600k followers.
“Cue the water works,” Caon said before the couple began the story on their podcast Use Your Manners.
Moments after one of Gigi’s first feeds Itsines noticed she was making strange gurgling noises in her bassinet.
“I look over and I was like, that’s weird,” Itsines, sister of Adelaide fitness guru Kayla Itsines, said.
Itsines, who was unable to move after a C-section, pressed the emergency call button for a nurse until they ran into the room and rushed Gigi away.
After a few hours hospital staff told the new parents their first child would need to be admitted into hospital.
Suffering with the “worst type of reflux” Gigi was regularly becoming desaturated or “desatting”. This meant the oxygen in Gigi’s blood was regularly dropping.
During their hospital stay nurses eventually were forced to put Gigi on oxygen, which Itsines said she wasn’t expecting.
“I was so not ready for that,” she said, crying. “I was like, what are you doing? … I walked straight out the room and had a panic attack by myself in the hallway.”
Their paediatrician later told the couple their daughter would “100 per cent go home on oxygen”.
Unable to stay in hospital for longer than five days Itsines and Caon returned home without their child, who had to remain in hospital to be continually monitored.
While in hospital doctors conducted a barium swallow test to confirm Gigi had reflux.
Covid restrictions forced Itsines to wait outside while her partner Mitch stayed with Gigi during the test.
“For me that was f**king traumatising,” she said. “Just waiting outside the room being like what is happening, what is happening?”
The weeks following their return home, Itsines and Caon would make regular trips back to the hospital for feeds and cuddles, constantly worried about their little one.
In order to return home safely Gigi needed to produce successful results in an eight-hour sleep test and not “desat” for 48 hours – meaning she had to maintain an appropriate oxygen level in her blood, according to Caon.
It took 21 days before Gigi was able to return home and not need oxygen.
Gigi’s health issues meant feeds were difficult and she had to be closely monitored.
Now the young family is loving life and Gigi is doing much better.
More Coverage
Originally published as South Australian food blogger Leah Itsines breaks down over traumatic birth story of daughter Gigi
I found the Cook Islands’ best-kept secret
Rarotonga’s untouristed interior reveals a paradise that is lost on most travellers.
I flew 1600km for love and got ghosted at the airport
Model River Blake flew to meet a man she had been chatting to online for three years, only to be left stranded at the airport.