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"When I got home, it was like everything was starting to just fall down on itself. Like, my face was melting on itself," Chen told Gayle King
Tiffany Chen had a postpartum health complication after giving birth to her baby girl with Robert De Niro.
Chen spoke about the complication in an interview with Gayle King, which will be released in its entirety on Friday. She explained that she was diagnosed with Bell's palsy shortly after having Gia Virginia.
Bell's palsy is "a neurological disorder that causes paralysis or weakness on one side of the face," according to National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "One of the nerves that controls muscles in your face becomes injured or stops working properly." They also note that symptoms include drooping features and weakness or paralysis on one side of the face.
I went to put a fork of food in my mouth and everything came out. I couldn't eat. And then I was starting to slur.
"When I went home, I started to feel like... my tongue felt strange," said Chen, 45.
"It felt a little tingly, just starting to get a little bit numb. And then I realized my face just felt weird. I didn't know what the feeling was that I was having. It felt weird."
King then asked if her face "looked different" when she looked in the mirror, which Chen confirmed was true.
"When I got home, it was like everything was starting to just fall down on itself. Like, my face was melting on itself," said Chen. "And then a week after giving birth, that was when it all hit."
"I was trying to eat," continued Chen. "I went to put a fork of food in my mouth and everything came out. I couldn't eat. And then I was starting to slur. So I said, 'There's something really going on here.'"
Chen was instructed to "go right to the hospital".
"I lost all facial function the minute I got to the hospital," she revealed.
Robert De Niro and his partner Tiffany Chen welcomed Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro in early April — and now, she’s making her national TV debut on #CBSMornings. https://t.co/OJJxGcEKlU pic.twitter.com/opiFRpWkRs
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 11, 2023 @CBSMornings
Chen and De Niro, 79, welcomed daughter Gia Virginia earlier this year, and the actor shared some details about his newborn with King in a previous interview.
King said the child's name is Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro and weighed in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces after her April 6 birth.
King said De Niro told her the baby was "planned" and both he and Chen "wanted this baby." She added the two were "over the moon" by her arrival -- and said, "she was brought here by love, so he is very psyched and very excited about it."
De Niro now has seven children total, ranging in age from 51-years-old to just 1-month.
The actor shares daughter Drena, 51, and son Raphael, 46, with first wife Diahnne Abbott, twins Julian and Aaron, 27, with ex-girlfriend Toukie Smith and two children -- son Elliot, 24, and daughter Helen, 11 -- with Grace Hightower.
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