In an exclusive photoshoot and interview in HELLO! magazine, Grace Victory reveals the exciting news that she is having a second child with singer-songwriter Lee Williams, a sibling for their beautiful 18-month-old son Cyprus.
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"We feel completely lucky and blessed that we have this amazing baby boy and another on the way," says the 31-year-old social influencer and author who was placed in an induced coma shortly after giving birth to Cyprus – as she had contracted Covid-19 during the pandemic.
Grace and Lee posing with their son Cyprus
She tells how the strength of love for her son helped her survive.
"I kept telling myself: 'I'm his mum and he needs me.' I didn't know the strength I had until I became a mother, and I worked so hard on my recovery to get home to him."
Remarkably, it was Cyprus who first gave Grace an inkling that she was pregnant for the second time.
"Cyprus was being so clingy and putting his head on my tummy. I told my sister and she said that it's a sign you could be pregnant. I was late on my period, so I did a test – and it was positive. It was wild and so crazy that Cyprus knew before me."
The baby is due in October, and already Grace is looking forward to sharing the first milestones, many of which she missed with her son. She was seven months pregnant when she developed Covid-19 in December 2020. Although mild at first, her symptoms worsened as the days went by and on Christmas Eve, Cyprus was delivered by emergency Caesarean section.
Grace and Lee's second baby is due in October
By Christmas Day, she was in intensive care and in an induced coma to give her body the best chance to recover. The most terrifying moment came when she suffered a cardiac arrest on 18 January, flatlining for five minutes.
"My medical team gave me a five per cent chance of survival. They didn’t think I was going to come back from cardiac arrest without any brain issues or long-term damage," Grace tells HELLO!, and it has been a long, hard journey, both physically and mentally, to where she is today.
There is talk of a TV documentary on her story, a book on motherhood and more. "But I am taking things day by day," says Grace, who has already written two books, No Filter and How To Calm It, and is an ambassador for Mind, the mental health charity, as well as being a successful YouTuber, posting videos about relationships, body image and her own mental health experiences for many years.
“I feel strong and I feel empowered but also, at the same time, there is a kind of vulnerability. I am forever changed,” she tells HELLO!.
To read the full article, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale now. Subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.