Melissa Ricks looks back on second pregnancy: '[It] was a little bit more traumatic'
Melissa Ricks recalled how her second pregnancy was “a little bit more traumatic,” sharing how terrified she was during her long hours of labor and with the complications surrounding her newborn.
The actress looked back on her journey in her second pregnancy almost six months since she welcomed her second child, Mikaela.
“My second childbirth was a little bit more traumatic. This time around I was terrified,” she wrote in her Instagram post on Saturday, July 8, saying that “it was totally different experience.”
“Even though I had a baby na before and I had all the same doctors and same hospital, all birthing stories are a different experience,” she said, sharing that she went through “intense labor” for hours.
The 33-year-old actress shared that they had to stay in the recovery room for 10 hours because all rooms in the hospital that day were occupied.
They were finally able to secure a room shortly after but had to extend their stay by six days because her newborn, Mika, had a condition that exposes her to possible permanent damage.
“We already had our bags packed and ready to go when our Pedia came in and said we had to stay. It broke my heart and I was so scared for Mika,” she wrote.
“Her Bilirubin levels were extremely high and may cause permanent damage. I didn't know that what I knew as Jaundice could be dangerous,” she added.
The condition was seen as common in newborns, but in rare cases, it can pose babies at risk of brain damage, according to Mayo Clinic.
Explaining the condition, the celebrity mom shared that because she and her husband had different blood types—with Mika getting the same blood type as her father—her newborn's bilirubin levels got “dangerously high.”
“I thought all we needed was a little sun, which is normal for newborns, but in Mika’s case, since me and her father had different blood types and Mika got her dad's blood type, it caused her bilirubin levels to be dangerously high,” she said.
Looking back, Melissa shared how challenging the moments were during the Photolight therapy, but couldn’t be more grateful that they overcame it all.
“Six days of holding her in our arms, barely any sleep since I didn't want to drop her, night and day under the Photolight therapy machine, with no air conditioning (because she will get cold and was wearing a diaper only, and couldn't wear clothes for the therapy),” she wrote.
“It was so hard and lots of tears from this momma, we made it through. We are stronger than we think Mommas,” she concluded.
Melissa and her non-showbiz husband Michael Macatangay welcomed their child on January 14, over a year after they tied the knot in May 2021. She had her first daughter, Kiera from her previous relationship with Charles Togezaki.