NEED TO KNOW
- Erin Bates is home from the hospital after developing serious complications following the Aug. 25 birth of her seventh child, son Henry
- She revealed the news on Instagram on Sept. 13, writing, “After almost three weeks in the hospital, I have never been so thankful to finally head home to our babies”
- Addressing her health scare, Erin said, “We don’t have all the answers yet”
Erin Bates says she’s feeling “thankful” to be home with her family following a nearly three-week hospitalization.
The Bringing Up Bates star, 34, shared an update about her health on Instagram on Saturday, Sept. 13, writing, “After almost three weeks in the hospital, I have never been so thankful to finally head home to our babies.”
“We don’t have all the answers yet, and I still don’t have function in my right leg, but we are choosing to count every blessing — especially the gift of being together again,” she continued, adding, “Your prayers have carried us through and mean the world to our family.”
The post featured a photo of Erin holding her newborn baby as she sat in a wheelchair, with her husband, Chad Paine, standing behind her with a smile. A second snapshot showed Erin in a car, with the couple’s baby tucked into a car seat next to her.
Erin and Chad, 38, welcomed their seventh child, a boy named Henry Blythe, on Aug. 25. When they announced the news on Instagram two days later, they shared that Erin was continuing to “recover from some complications.”
In an update on Sept. 1, Chad said that Henry was “doing well” in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and that Erin was “fighting through” some serious complications following the delivery of their son.
“Erin developed a severe UTI and kidney infection, which sent her into septic shock,” he wrote. “She is currently still in the ICU as doctors continue to treat, diagnose and search for answers.”
Three days later, in a Sept. 4 post, Chad revealed that Erin had “suffered a lengthy and severe seizure” the previous night.
“Up to this point, Erin’s infection was getting better, but we found ourselves back in a place of heartache, uncertainty and tears,” he wrote in a lengthy message. “She is in the ICU, and the doctors are running scans and tests to determine the cause. Erin is extremely weak and spent hours only half-conscious.”
He went on to express how difficult it was to see his wife so sick.
“As her husband, it is one of the hardest things I’ve ever faced — to sit by her side and watch her struggle while being so helpless to ease her suffering,” he wrote, adding, “We hold on to faith that healing is coming, even in the midst of the unknown. Your prayers are felt, and we are forever grateful.”
In a more encouraging update on Sept. 6, the couple posted a video showing Erin snuggling and kissing baby Henry in her hospital bed. “With tears in our eyes, we are praising the Lord that we are on the road to recovery,” the caption read.
On Sept. 9, Chad revealed that Erin had been transferred to a new hospital where “a team of doctors is working together to help her improve.”
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Then, in yet another emotional post on Sept. 20, Chad shared a clip of himself reading a letter to his wife from their 8-year-old daughter, Brooklyn Elise, as Erin lay in her hospital bed with her eyes closed.
“I’m praying for you, and I hope I can see you so soon. I love you, and I know you love me back. I wish I could see you now,” Brooklyn’s letter said in part. “I’ve been waiting every second — one, two, three — for you. Well, Mom, I know however long you stay there, I’ll be right here waiting on you.”
In addition to Henry and Brooklyn, Chad and Erin are parents to daughters Finley Marie, 3, Holland Grace, 5, and Everly Hope, 7, and sons William Gage, 20 months, and Charles Steven IV, 10.
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