RHOP Star Opens Up About Her Traumatic Birth Experience

Season 9 of The Real Housewives of Potomac is coming to an end, but fans have noted a change with the absence of Candiace Dillard Bassett. Following her departure after Season 8, Candiace Dillard Bassett was clear that her focus was now on her family. After giving birth to her first son with Chris Bassett in October, Candiace has detailed the trauma she experienced following giving birth.  

Speaking to People in November, the former RHOP star stated, “I started having these horrifying lower abdominal pains. It was so bad that I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything. And it just kept getting worse.” She developed a fever, was in excruciating pain attempting to breastfeed, and soon developed some mental health struggles. “I was really depressed because you have to understand: I couldn’t get up – literally, I was stuck in the bed, doubled over in pain,” she revealed.

Candiace Dillard Bassett Disclosed Her Struggles

Image via Peacock

While struggling with all the postpartum difficulties, the RHOP star gave immense credit to her husband for becoming the hero of their story. “I couldn’t take care of my baby. If I didn’t have a husband, me and my child would be dead because I could not do anything. I was just like a literal vegetable, laying there like a bump on a log,” she admitted. After the pain didn’t subside, she went to the hospital at the urge of her father, where she was given a CAT scan that revealed a blood clot in her left ovary. She didn’t need surgery, but she was prescribed blood thinners that helped fix her physical and mental ailments.

Now that Jett is a few months older, Candiace has been able to celebrate some baby milestones. The first of many. Candiace shared an Instagram story documenting just how big her baby boy has grown. In the selfie, the new mom wrote, “My baby is finally big enough for me to carry him on my hip.” Since his birth, she has been celebrating her son at every opportunity she can. Speaking on Motivation with Melissa, a local FOX News station, she shared, “It’s not real yet, and I can’t get anything done because I will just hold him all day and night and just stare at him, just in awe of like, ‘Where did you come from? How are you here?’ It’s so strange in the greatest way.”

While she’s excited to share photos of her son, she still is not sharing his face. She revealed, “It just feels so special to have him all to ourselves, but in the same vein, I know [there are] so many people that rooted for us and are excited for us and are excited at the prospect of us having a child, that I knew I wanted to share with the world that he’s here…but I’m also aware of how interesting the world can be, and how scary the world can be. And I want to keep him safe for as long as I can. And protect him for as long as I can.” Candiace promised that her fans will “see him soon.”