With pre-eclampsia and meningitis scares behind her, Sophie Ellis Bextor looks to the future

No one can accuse Sophie Ellis Bextor of being a pessimist.  In a lengthy interview published in today’s Daily Mail, the British pop singer recounted both her harrowing pregnancy and her son’s scary brush with a potentially fatal illness — but said she is nonetheless anxious to have more kids. 

Sophie suffered from pre-eclampsia, a blood pressure disorder affecting 5-8% of all pregnancies, and needed to deliver her son Sonny by emergency cesarean section in April 2004, 8-weeks premature.  Weighing just 3 pounds, 8 ounces, Sonny spent five weeks in the NICU before he was allowed to return home.  Then, at just 4-months-old, Sonny developed meningitis. 

There were some bad episodes.  But I wouldn’t want to over-egg the drama.  The meningitis was a horrible episode, but by the time Sonny was diagnosed, he was already on the road to recovery and now…he seems to be completely OK.

Happy to put the ‘drama’ behind her, Sophie is eager to expand the family she is building with husband Richard Jones. 

I’m thinking three (children) would be good at the moment.  I’d love to work it out so it was album-baby-album, but I wasn’t a planned child and neither was Sonny, so you can never predict where life will take you.  But I’d definitely like another sooner rather than later. 

3-year-old Sonny has bright red hair and is "very chatty" according to Sophie, who added that her son’s strengths rest in the cognitive arena — for young Sonny "is not very sporty or coordinated."  Whoever Sonny turns out to be, Sophie is a firm believer that it is all pre-determined.   

I think kids are born with all their innate characteristics intact, and your job is to encourage them in those, not try and mould them into some ‘type’ that you might prefer.  That was the overwhelming surprise of having a child, for me; I could always see who Sonny was, even though he was just a baby.

Source:  The Daily Mail

Comments

Although I’m not a mother myself, I feel for Sophie because having a child go through so much at such a young age can’t be easy.

Her description of her son, Sonny, except for the red hair, sound much like myself as a young child. Her description of her son’s strengths and weaknesses leads me to believe that the meningitis has affected him to some degree physically, but fortunately his cognitive and vocal skills haven’t been affected.

(My mother told me I was talking in nearly full sentences at a year, but didn’t learn to walk until I was over 2 yrs. I wonder what Sophie’s son’s mental & physical milestones were?)

Sonny will no doubt be able to lead a full and productive life even into adulthood, as long as he doesn’t let his coordination issues get him down as he grows up.

- Autumn on May 12th, 2007