Candiace Dillard Bassett shares the “crippling pain” of her postpartum experience

Candiace Dillard Bassett became a mother! Although the former “Real Housewives of Potomac” star’s delivery went well, she says postpartum is a special story.

On October 3, Dillard Bassett and her husband, Chris Bassett, welcomed their first child together, son Jett Maxwell Lee Bassett. However, just just a few days after giving birth, the latest mother recalls feeling paralyzed by pain.

“I started having terrible pain in my lower abdomen,” she said People Magazine. “It was so bad that I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything. And it kept getting worse.”

By self-medicating with doses of ibuprofen and Tylenol every 4 hours, Dillard Bassett was in a position to relieve some of the pain, although she admits she still didn’t feel “normal.” Her symptoms eventually worsened and included a fever of as much as 30.0°C. The reality star began experiencing these symptoms while staying at Postpartum retreat in San, a physician-designed care program designed to support families of their postpartum recovery, including hands-on masterclasses on self- and child-care, mental health resources and more.

“I was on fire! And it went on for a week. I just couldn’t get it down,” Bassett explained, adding how the pain affected her breastfeeding. “(Breastfeeding) was really excruciating at first, it hurt a lot. And I know it often hurts at first as you adjust, but I was already dealing with so much pain that it made it that much worse. I wasn’t producing as much milk, I couldn’t pump. I was a mess.”

“I was really depressed because you have to understand: I couldn’t get up – I was literally stuck in bed, writhing in pain,” she continued. “I couldn’t take care of the baby. If I didn’t have a husband, me and my baby would be dead because I couldn’t do anything. I was lying like a literal vegetable, lying like a lump on a log.”

When I finally went to the doctor to handle my symptoms, a computed tomography (CAT) scan revealed a blood clot in my left ovary. Dillard Bassett says that after being prescribed blood thinners to treat blood clots, she began to feel a difference each physically and mentally inside every week.

“My depression is really gone and I’m much better now,” she said. “I can actually take care of Jett; cuddle him, take care of him, breastfeed him and actually be a mother,” she said.

This experience completely modified Dilliard Bassett’s perspective, helping her discover a deeper appreciation for her husband and mother.

“I always knew he was a great dad, but this really confirmed it for me,” she said of her husband, who has three children – Owen (22), Mateo (14) and Naia (10) – from two previous relationships. “Because Chris did almost everything. Most often he got up in the middle of the night. He held Jett and watched him. So I’m grateful I didn’t have to go through it alone.”

“I’m completely obsessed (with motherhood); It’s the whole lot I wanted and much more,” she concluded. “(But) I definitely have a newfound respect for what it takes to not only be a mom, but to be a very good mom; be a gift mom. My mother was really present. I’ve at all times felt it in my life. So I hope to be nearly as good a mom to Jett as she was to me.