Danielle Fishel Gets Candid About Her Guilt Over Infant Son’s NICU Stay After His Birth

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Danielle Fishel is getting candid about the guilt she felt over her infant son’s stay in the NICU after his birth.

In a new interview with People magazine, the former child actress reveals personal details of baby Adler’s first few weeks of life. The little boy had to spend three weeks in NICU. He was born early with fluid on his lungs.

Adler suffered from a condition called chylothorax, which is a leak in the lymphatic system. Babies that are breastfed will get fluid in their lungs because of the condition.

“Adler is bottle-fed because of the issue that he had, something called chylothorax. It’s a leak in the lymphatic system. Unfortunately, my breast milk was creating fluid in his lungs, and we had to take him off of breast milk and put him on a specially formulated formula that doesn’t use the lymphatic system,” the first-time mom explained.

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Fishel and her husband, Jensen Karp, were not prepared when Adler had to be transferred to a different hospital because his lungs were not healing the way doctors hoped.

“That was obviously devastating for us. It was traumatizing. We were not expecting that. The last thing we had heard was that it looks good; the fluid’s going down. We expected to have this ultrasound done and be told there was no more fluid in his lungs,” she revealed.

One of the toughest parts of being in the NICU is things can change in an instant and the parents were left scared for their little boy.

“We really thought we were on our way out, and this was at like day 12 of being in the hospital with him. “To hear, ‘We have bad news: The fluid has tripled, and now we no longer think we’re the best place for him. This feels much more like an emergency, and we need to rush him to Children’s Hospital,’ was extremely scary,” Fishel shared.

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The entire process was eye-opening, terrifying, and emotionally draining for the new parents. Thankfully baby Adler is home, drinking bottles regularly and appears to have no health issues stemming from his early birth or chylothorax.

Boy Meets World alum Danielle Fishel has some advice for parents who have to endure NICU as her family did. Think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. It was a long, slow process for Fishel and Karp to be able to bring Adler home finally.

The harrowing experience has caused her guilt. However, the actress is trying to push the mom guilt aside and enjoy to baby boy.