Actress and TV host Vanessa Lachey revealed this week the harrowing details surrounding the premature birth of her and husband Nick Lachey’s third child, Phoenix Robert.
In a TV package for “Dancing With the Stars” – a show that both Vanessa and Nick currently star on — Vanessa explained that her water broke well before her due date.
“I was in the hospital on bedrest and then my water broke,” she said. “I was only 29 weeks.”
Then, through tears, she revealed how scared she was as she prepared to go in for an emergency operation to deliver Phoenix.
“I was on the operating bed and I looked up and I didn’t know a single face, and I remembered thinking, ‘I hope the baby’s OK,’ and ‘Don’t worry about me. Just make him OK,'” she said.
Nick also shared his experience and broke down while discussing how scared he was to see his son for the first time after the birth.
“I think, as a man you want to believe you can protect your kids, protect your wife,” he said. “I never felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do.”
In the end, the two got through the ordeal together. And to commemorate their victory and their baby’s survival, Vanessa performed a rumba with “Dancing With the Stars” partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy on Monday night to Nick’s rendition of the song “Godspeed” — a tune that she said helped get them through their son’s struggles.
Watch the performance below: