Kelly Ripa’s whirlwind romance with Mark Consuelos culminated in the birth of their first child. She met her future husband in 1995 on the set of All My Children. They played love interests. A year later, the real-life couple eloped to Las Vegas. Their first son, Michael, was born in 1997. The LIVE hosts recalled a terrifying ER visit when their first child was just a toddler. Keep reading for all the details on the scary incident.
Kelly Ripa Recalls Terrifying ER Visit With First Child
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos were veteran parents by the time they welcomed their second and third children. But they were newly wed and new parents when they welcomed their first son, Michael, in June 1997. As first-time parents, they took everything seriously.
During a recent episode of LIVE with Kelly and Mark, Kelly Ripa recalled a scary incident that left them rushing their toddler son to the ER. The family of three went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. She said that Michael was about 16 months at the time.
“He was sitting in his little high chair, the kind that you press up against the table. And he’s fiddling with something under the table,” she began.
The story continued, “And he looked, he pulled off – and I mean in one second, this happened in one second – he pulled off a piece of gum and shoved it into his mouth and swallowed it.”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos rushed out of the restaurant and took their young son to the ER. “Yeah, I remember that. And he’s fine,” Mark Consuelos said. His wife agreed that their son was fine, but it was still scary with their first child. “By the third baby, we were letting him eat all the gum,” she joked.
The couple welcomed their only daughter, Lola, in 2001 and their second son, Joaquin, in 2003.
LIVE Hosts Blasts Poor Parenting Today
Kelly Ripa was once a young mother herself. However, she has zero patience for kids running wild in public these days. She blamed it on rampant poor parenting today. The couple discussed restaurants enacting “adults-only” policies to keep kids out.
Mark Consuelos recalled taking their three young kids with them everywhere back in the day. “When we traveled, we always had our kids. When you’re in Italy, they bring their kids everywhere. They’re out until midnight walking around. We had our kids out late, I liked the family environment,” he said.
However, the LIVE hosts agreed that it’s not the same environment today as it was back then. “Kids now at restaurants are different. They’re in the iPad screen. You don’t even know they’re there. They don’t even know they’re there,” Kelly Ripa said.
She added, “We could turn Bluey down a notch. I shouldn’t know what Bluey is — my kids are adults!” Every parent thinks their generation raised their kids the best. Share your thoughts on iPad kids in the comments.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
