Emily Maynard Reveals She Had Bell's Palsy During Pregnancy with Fifth Child
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Emily Maynard and Brad Womack got engaged during season 15 of The Bachelor
Emily Maynard is reflecting on the ups and downs of 2020, including when she was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in September.
The Bachelorette alum, 34, shared a series of posts on her Instagram Story Friday and one slide featured her lying down with an eye patch over her face.
“Got Bells Palsy and had to wear a patch,” Maynard wrote atop the photo, adding that it was from September 2020.
Bell’s palsy occurs when a nerve in the face becomes swollen or inflamed, triggering symptoms like muscle weakness, drooling, a drooping eyelid or corner of the mouth, twitching, or paralysis, which can come on quickly, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Emily Maynard/Instagram
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Emily Maynard/Instagram
Though Maynard didn’t share more details about her Bell’s palsy, she previously opened up about battling the health condition when she was a teenager.
In her 2016 memoir, I Said Yes: My Story of Heartbreak, Redemption and True Love, Maynard writes about being diagnosed with Bell’s palsy during her junior year of high school.
She shared that her doctor told her “that with corticosteroid medication, the use of an eye patch at night so I could sleep, and good old-fashioned time, I would make a full recovery,” according to Entertainment Tonight.
Emily Maynard/Instagram Emily Maynard and husband Tyler Johnson
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“While I wasn’t thrilled that my symptoms wouldn’t disappear entirely for a few weeks, I was grateful it wasn’t anything more serious,” she added.
In her Friday Instagram Stories, Maynard also told followers about her decision to keep her pregnancy a secret last year. She and her husband Tyler Johnson welcomed their daughter Magnolia Belle in October. The newest addition is the fifth child for the reality star and her fourth with Johnson.
“Lots of questions why I chose not to tell people about my pregnancy: Honestly no real answer or plan,” she wrote on Friday. “Lots going on in the world at the time and social media/news gave me anxiety, so I just never put it on Instagram. After a while we decided it would be fun to just surprise everyone with a new baby!”
