For the first six months of their son’s existence, Louise Thompson and her fiancé Ryan Libbey scarcely communicated.
Following the birth of their son Leo in November 2021, the Made in Chelsea star suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Louise, 33, stated on Wednesday that she and Ryan, 33, a fitness trainer, couldn’t speak following the shock of her delivery.
She addressed the problem candidly on social media, along with a video showing herself and her partner playing tennis in their kitchen with a tennis ball and racket.
Louise wrote on Instagram: ‘Ryan and I didn’t have proper conversations for months and months after the trauma of having Leo.
‘We didn’t talk at all. Very limited talking for the first 6 months of his life.’
Louise explained that she ‘didn’t really recognise Ryan as a person’ but insisted it was ‘a mutual paralysis’ that made them act ‘weird’.
She went on: ‘I don’t think I asked him a single question until Leo was at least 4 months old.
‘I didn’t even really recognise him as a person in my home (before you think I’m a total monster he didn’t ask how I was either).’
The mum-of-one continued: ‘It was a mutual paralysis. Things were so dire, we couldn’t even register how weird this behaviour was. It’s only on reflection that I recognise how strange it is.’
As for how they got by, she said: ‘We find it easier to talk in passing, or over WhatsApp, or when we don’t have to look each other in the eye. Playing tennis in the kitchen.’
Louise, who co-starred on the E4 reality programme with her brother Sam Thompson, wants to make sure Leo doesn’t have the same difficulty communicating his emotions with others.
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She asked her followers: ‘Where do you feel comfortable having important conversations?
‘I really want to encourage Leo to be able to look me in the eye and have the confidence to talk to me about his feelings as he grows up. Any tips from parents who are further down the line than me?’
