Louise Thompson has admitted she “doesn’t even want to leave the house” after a “hard few days”.
The 31-year-old has been suffering from PTSD since the traumatic birth of her son Leo in November last year.
The Made In Chelsea star nearly died giving birth and had to spend five weeks in hospital recovering from serious complications.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday to update her 1.4million followers, Louise wrote: “😵💫 Gosh it’s been a hard few days, but we’re still here and we’re still putting one foot in front of the other not giving up hope for a better and brighter future… mental health is so strange because it’s invisible, so only words can make sense of it to others.”
“Anyway, yesterday there were a few beautiful hours including bath time with Leo and a big roast chicken for dinner. I keep pushing for more ‘normality’ even though it feels really really hard. Right now I don’t even want to leave the house.”
“I haven’t actually worn makeup or snazzy clothes for a while (very unlike me) so instead I thought I’d post some pictures of some of the beautiful flowers that I’ve received or bought and have enjoyed arranging. One of my favourite past times.”
Louise and her fiancé Ryan Libbey announced the arrival of their son Leo on December 23, five weeks after his birth.
Sharing the first photo of him on Instagram, Louise wrote: “The reason I have been absent for weeks is because I have been very unwell. 5 weeks ago I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy Leo-Hunter Libbey weighing in at 7lbs.”
“Unfortunately it wasn’t the easiest start for either of us. One ended up in NICU and the other ended up in ICU. Whilst Leo made a fairly quick recovery, I have been recovering in hospital for a month with various serious complications.”
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“In all honesty I never imagined that so many bad things could happen to me, but to dance with death twice brings a whole new view of the world – a stark reminder of how short and sacred life really is.”
She continued: “We need to start living, we need to start loving, we need to start enjoying every minute detail in life (certainly easier said than done when you’re stuck in mental and/or physical purgatory or dealing with serious illness, depression or the fear of the unknown), but if you DO have the capacity, then try and cling onto any nuggets of good… and please please please be grateful for good health.”
“The hard truth is that you don’t know how lucky you are to have it until it’s too late. The reality is that I am in a bit of a strange place mentally and physically and I might be for a while, but that’s just part of the me now and part of my recovery.”
“It’s not going to be easy or linear but thankfully I am being offered some very valuable psychological help and the good news is that I’m starting to experience some good hours as well as bad ones. (Sometimes living hour by hour is your only option).”
“I want to finish with some happy news 🗞… I have been given the green light and been discharged from hospital which means that i’m able to recover from the comfort of my own home for Christmas.”
“For the first time in a month I actually see a future where I get to live peacefully on this earth with my son. I can’t wait to start our new journey together as a family of 3 and to start bonding little baby Leo.”
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“A massive thank you to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. It is working. More thank yous to follow. I’m too overwhelmed and a bit scared right now but I did want to send a prayer out to anyone who is also suffering and who might need love too.”
“Life can be cruel and Christmas can be hard. It’s a good time to remember those less fortunate… there are a lot of them. I’ve seen it,” Louise concluded her post.
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