DWTS Pro Sharna Burgess Worried About Her Baby

“Dancing With the Stars” professional dancer Sharna Burgess is getting real about being a first-time mom in her latest Instagram story. She and her “Dancing With the Stars” season 30 partner and boyfriend, actor Brian Austin Green, welcomed their first child together in June 2022 and now that he’s getting more independent and eating solid foods, she is constantly worried about him.

Sharna Burgess Says She ‘Freaks Out’ About Zane Choking

In her Instagram story about Zane starting to eat solid foods, Burgess admitted that all she thinks about is him choking and what she would do in that situation.

“Any other mamas freak out about their baby choking while eating?” wrote Burgess. “I do baby-led weaning a little, but I absolutely panic every time. Like I imagine him choking and I can’t breathe. So I go back to what I can handle — purees and smashed soft food, but I feel like I’m doing him a disservice.”

She went on to say how Green gave Zane “the thick crust of pizza to suck on, which is totally safe,” but she couldn’t handle it.

“I was on the verge of a panic attack watching him,” wrote the professional dancer. “I know he can’t break off chunks, but still, all I could see was him suddenly not breathing. How do you handle it?”

Burgess Did Say She’s ‘Well Prepared’ For if Zane Does Start Choking

Burgess did say that she has two LifeVac Choking Rescue Devices, which are these suction things that are made to clear an airway obstruction, but it still doesn’t make her feel better.

“I have the LifeVac thing, two of them actually. I am well prepared for it if it happens, but I’m also not prepared at all, you know?” wrote Burgess. “My anxiety just spikes and I end up controlling the situation instead of letting Zane experience and learn. Help.”

This is definitely in keeping with the phenomenon she talked about in a December 2022 post called “Intrusive thoughts,” which are “sudden, involuntary thoughts” that cause “great stress and anxiety,” according to Medical News Today.

In her post in December, Burgess opened up about constantly having these intrusive thoughts about something bad happening to Zane.

Burgess wrote at the time:

Intrusive mom thoughts…

This is a real thing. Honestly, I thought it was something wrong with my brain at first. These super dark thoughts of all the things that could go wrong. All the ways I or life could accidentally hurt my baby. Falling down stairs holding him, sickness, a car accident. The list is long, but I won’t share it. If you know you know. 5 months in and I still get them, but I have learned to tame them and understand them and most of all realized I am not alone.

She continued, “That new responsibility is filled with so much love, wonder and awe but nobody warns you about the equal amount of fear that now lives within you. It’s the most excruciating love you’ve ever felt and its overwhelming, at least for me it was. But now I have tools that I wanna share with all my mamas that may need it like I did/do.”

Burgess went on to detail how she takes deep, cleansing breaths to release the thoughts, or she physically swipes her hand in front of her eyes and says the word “no” out loud.

“They help me tremendously so I hope that they help you too,” wrote Burgess.

It can definitely be scary being a first-time parent, but it looks like Burgess is mostly really enjoying herself, based on her Instagram feed.

In a recent post on February 18, she made a video of herself jamming out in the car to lullaby music and wrote, “Remember when you used to play rap music in your car…”

The caption continued, “Or when you used to eat whole meals, not need naps, or better yet, be able to take one if you wanted one? Yeah… me either.”

“Dancing With the Stars” returns for its 32nd season in the fall of 2023 in Disney Plus. Burgess took season 31 off after just having had Zane a few months earlier, but we think she’ll probably be back for season 32, especially in light of how many other female pros are having babies this year. Jenna Johnson welcomed her first child with Val Chmerkovskiy in January 2023, and Witney Carson, Lindsay Arnold, Daniella Karagach, and Peta Murgatroyd are all due in May or June 2023.