Dancing With The Stars’ Witney Carson had COVID-19 when she gave birth to son Leo at the beginning of January.
The professional dancer, 27, revealed she contracted coronavirus earlier this year while doing a Q&A on her Instagram Story on Saturday.
‘So I’ve debated sharing this or not… but yes we did have Covid when Leo was born,’ Carson replied to a fan.
Scary situation: Whitney Carson of Dancing With The Stars fame has revealed she was COVID-19 positive when she gave birth to her son Leo, born January 3rd
She also revealed that she passed the virus to her parents, writing: ‘We gave it to my parents on Christmas Eve.’
Because they had contracted covid, Witney’s parents actually had to meet their grandson at a distance.
‘They weren’t out of quarantine yet & had to meet their grandson for the first time through a window literally broke my heart into pieces,’ the Utah native went on, sharing video of the heart-wrenching moment.
Carson has been open about her difficult birth with Leo, an experience which she described as ‘traumatic’ during an interview with Us Weekly earlier this month.
‘I pushed for two and a half hours. I was fully dilated and the baby just did not want to come out,’ she shared.
Debated: ‘So I’ve debated sharing this or not… but yes we did have Covid when Leo was born,’ Carson replied to a fan
Sharing: The professional dancer, 27, revealed she contracted coronavirus earlier this year while doing a Q&A on her Instagram Story on Saturday
From a distance: She also revealed that her parents had to meet their grandson ‘through a window’ after they contracted the virus through Carson
A terrifying reality for any mother – let alone a first time mom – Carson said she was not ‘prepared’ for the C-section, previously calling it ‘the hardest day of [her] life.’
‘He just was, like, stuck underneath my pelvis for so long. His heart rate started going really high. So we had to do an emergency C-section and obviously, we did whatever was right for the baby,’ she said.
Above all Carson said, ‘We’re just really happy that he’s healthy. That’s the most important thing.’
She added that the reality of giving birth was definitely nowhere near what she expected.
‘Traumatic’: The Utah native admitted son Leo’s birth was ‘traumatic’ during a conversation with Us Weekly sharing that he ‘wasn’t coming out,’ prompting an emergency c-section on January 3. She’s pictured February 6
Tough labor: The whole labor process took 24-hours, and she shared that she was not ‘prepared’ for the emergency c-section following two and a half hours of pushing
‘I think I just went in with such high expectations. I’m going to have a great birth. I’m going to recover so quickly. I’m going to bounce back. And it just was the complete opposite of what I thought.’
Getting candid about her postpartum journey she told the publication her body has been ‘slower to recover’ following the surgery, but with regards to breastfeeding she feels ‘totally fine.’
‘It is just so weird to me. My body’s used to that extreme, push it to the limit, 24 hours a day, all day. Like, I don’t feel any pain. I feel like the milk let down, which is a little bit painful, but nothing I can’t handle,’ she shared.
Throughout her labor husband Carson McAllister was holding her hand as she called him ‘an actual angel,’ adding, ‘even though it was so rough I loved this day so much & would do it all over again.’
Family support: She welcomed her son Leo with husband Carson McAllister, calling him ‘an actual angel’ throughout the process; pictured January 3
Happy family: Speaking about her postpartum journey on Instagram she said it was ‘anything but glamorous’ saying that she cried at one point and thought to herself ‘I’ll never recover from this’; pictured February 7
False expectations: ‘It was just was the complete opposite of what I thought,’ she said about the whole experience of giving birth
She also shared that two weeks after giving birth she was ‘still in a diaper,’ calling labor ‘no joke.’
Providing an update on Instagram over the weekend she told her 1.3M followers, ‘my post partum journey has been anything but glamorous.’
‘I remember the day after I had the c-section, and the nurses were getting me out of the hospital bed I cried & thought to myself, “I’ll never recover from this!”‘
She continued, ‘Even though that thought was so scary for me, I was and am SO proud of this body, that it protected and nurtured this little human. Our bodies are truly amazing..here’s to the women!!’
Overall she said that Leo – who is named for his grandpa – has been ‘really good from day one.
Being parents has also brought she and her husband of four years closer, as she told Us, ‘Watching him be a father is, like, the most amazing thing because it’s just been us two for years. It just melts your heart and you just love him that much more
Growing closer: She told Us that being parents has brought she and McAllister closer adding that watching him be a father ‘melts her heart’; pictured February 11