What you need to know
The influencer will undergo open heart surgery just days after announcing that she and her husband are pregnant with their second child.
On Wednesday, January 28, Strong Pilates co-founder Michael Ramsey confirmed in an Instagram post that his wife, Leah Jay, an Australian content creator who lives in Austin, Texas, will likely need open-heart surgery after a heart scan revealed her mitral valve is “leaking” due to an infection.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “The mitral valve is located between the top and bottom of the left ventricle. When the valve opens, blood flows from the left atrium to the left ventricle.”
“When the mitral valve closes, it prevents blood from flowing backwards. In some cases, the mitral valve may be too narrow or leaky to function properly. This can make the heart work harder to pump blood around the body,” the site adds.
Michael, who already shares son Reeves, 3, with Leah, wrote in an update Wednesday: “We’ll probably have to replace the valve with a mechanical one, but we’ll try to save it if possible.”
He said the heart surgery could be done “as early as Friday (January 30)” or “at the latest on Monday (February 2)”, adding: “We have been told there is a significant risk to the baby, but Leah is our priority right now.”
Leah Ramsey/Instagram
“If everything goes well, she could be discharged from the hospital four to five days after surgery. Leah is doing well in every way, taking one step at a time and courageously going through this process,” Michael said.
The update comes after Leah shared a photo on Instagram from her hospital stay, revealing that the past few weeks have been “the scariest, most eye-opening days” of her life.
“What started as swelling and pain in my leg led to emergency surgery to remove a blood clot. From there, doctors discovered that I had an infection in my heart that may have been lurking in my body for nearly a year, silently causing inflammation and disease, and eventually sending the blood clot into my leg,” she wrote.
“Suddenly everything started to make sense,” said Leah, who regularly posts about her lifestyle and motherhood. He revealed that he had been experiencing symptoms such as cellulitis, swelling in his hands and feet, night sweats, fatigue and repeated infections.
Leah said she thinks her nausea is caused by her pregnancy. “I kept thinking this was just bad luck, or a pregnancy symptom, or something I needed to get over. But my body was trying to tell me something bigger,” her post added.
The influencer continued, “This was scary, but also clear. I’m grateful to finally have answers. I’m grateful to my amazing doctors. And I’m grateful that this was caught before something worse happened.”
She ended her post on a lighter note, writing, “On a side note, I’m scared to find out what’s going to happen to my hospital bill 😵💫.”
Leah Ramsey/Instagram
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The health scare comes after Leah and Michael announced in an Instagram post on January 18 that they are expecting another baby. The couple shared a photo of Leah standing in front of Michael wearing a gray crop top and black pants, showing off her baby bump, while Michael smiled broadly as he looked down at her belly.
A second photo showed Reeves sleeping in bed, clutching an ultrasound image. Leah captioned the post, “Sequel #julybaby.”
PEOPLE reached out to Michael Ramsey for an update on Leah and her surgery, but did not immediately receive a response.
