‘Grey’s Anatomy’s’ Camilla Luddington Pays Tribute To Her Late Mother on Instagram
Camilla Luddington of Grey’s Anatomy is experiencing some major life changes on screen and off. Recently announcing that she’s expecting her second child with husband Matthew Alan, fans are wondering if the pregnancy will be written as part of the storyline for her character, Dr. Jo Karev, whose husband Alex just left her.
Already a mom to 3-year-old daughter Hayden, Luddington has previously shared what it’s like to now be a parent after losing her own mother at a young age.
Enlisting the help of Cinderella
Luddington decided to take the ‘magical’ route when revealing she was expecting her second child. Taking to Instagram with the news, she was accompanied by a beloved Disney princess to help share her joy.
“Me: “I’m just gonna do a super casual pregnancy announcement.”
Also me: “I NEED PRINCESSES!!!!!!” 👑✨💫🌟👑✨🌟💫👑✨🌟💫👑” Luddington posted on Instagram, along with a pic of herself with Cinderella gesturing to her belly. “Okay so… Matt and I are so happy to fiiiiinally post after months of “hiding” that i am pregnant! We are beyond excited to add to our little family and give Hayden a sibling.”
The Grey’s Anatomy star admitted that she had purposely been refraining from posting due to her condition and all that comes with it. “Yes, I’ve been away a lot from social media the past few months because OMGGGG the exhaustion and OMGGGGGG the morning (read: alllllll day) sickness,” Luddington revealed. “Have I been 🤮 mid filming at work? Yep! Oh the glamor of growing new humans 🤣. But in all seriousness, we feel so lucky and I can’t wait to bring you guys along for the remaining months of this baby #2 journey!!”
The actress also gave props to her Disney pal for making an appearance in her special post. “*Shout out to the one and only Cinderella for helping me with this pic yesterday 🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️” Luddington included.
Missing her mom
Luddington lost her mom unexpectedly at the age of 19, and described going through a rough “mourning period.” When the actress gave birth to Hayden in April 2017, she began to experience anxiety which she attributed to the past trauma of her mother’s passing.
“When I had a child, a lot of my own trauma from losing my mom when I was younger kind of came up with me now being a parent to my own daughter,” Luddington told Bustle. “I started to get a lot of anxiety. I was constantly afraid that I was going to die early and leave her.”
Luddington shared that she began therapy shortly after her daughter was born to learn coping skills for her anxiety. While she admits the anxiety is something she “continues to deal with,” she is grateful for getting help when she needed it. “There was so much strength and, honestly, release in being able to go and seek out a therapist and speak about it to somebody,” she said.
Luddington pays tribute
Luddington plans on continuing a tradition from her mother with her own family. “My mum wanted us to believe in Santa for as long as possible. She never told us that we had to go to bed early so Santa would come. She was the total opposite!” the Grey’s Anatomy actress revealed to Momtastic. “She would come in and if we were awake she would say, ‘Oh thank god you guys are awake! We’ve got to stay up for Santa.’”
The British actress went on to share the fun details her mother would incorporate into the holiday festivities.
“One thing that we did that made me feel like I was in the Goonies was we would booby trap our house to catch Santa. So we would put trip wire, which was really string, across the bottom of our door so that when he’d come into our room he’d trip and we’d see him,” Luddington recalled. “Or my mum would string silverware together and she would put it on our front door, because we didn’t have a chimney, so when he opened the door it would slip off and make a loud noise and we’d all wake up and meet Santa.”
Luddington hopes to create the same magic with her own children. “It was just this really fun evening and we thought that maybe we’d get to see Santa,” she said. “And she was in cahoots with us on it. So I’d like to keep up the tradition of booby trapping my house on Christmas Eve.”
Last week, the actress posted a loving tribute to her late mother, expressing that she truly holds her mom in her heart.
“My mum died 17 years ago today,” Luddington wrote on Instagram. “I believe she visits me in my dreams ❤️ whenever she is in them they are always so incredibly vivid and I always remember them in the morning. I miss her everyday but I know she is still with me.. ❤️❤️❤️”
Fans are eagerly awaiting for Luddington to announce the arrival of her second child!
