Estela Grande Reveals Scary Twin Birth & Baby Luca’s NICU Stay

Spanish Influencer Estela Grande Shares Emotional Account of Twin Birth and Early Days

The birth of twins Luca and Liah to Spanish influencer Estela Grande and footballer Juan Antonio Iglesias, on January 20, 2026, was initially a private moment for the couple. However, Grande has since opened up about the anxieties and complications surrounding the delivery, including a brief period where one of her babies required intensive care.

Grande, who was 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant at the time of delivery, described the experience as a “storm, although with a happy ending.” She recounted the fear she felt leading up to the cesarean section, particularly being alone in the operating room before her partner arrived. “I have no words to describe how the cesarean was,” she shared. “It was very fast. The most fear I had was when they took me alone to the operating room because they don’t let dad pass until everything is ready. All that moment of being in the operating room alone, the epidural of being alone without him, I was very scared and I was very afraid.”

She explained that while the epidural provided pain relief, the fear of the unknown and the coldness of the operating room were overwhelming. Fortunately, her gynecologist provided comfort and reassurance throughout the process. “Luckily, I had my gynecologist all the time who hugged me, spoke to my ear, explained what was going to happen…”

The delivery itself unfolded quickly. Once the incision was made, Grande described feeling sensations, but not pain. To distract herself, she asked Iglesias to speak to her and they had prepared a playlist to listen to. “It’s all very fast. You have the curtain and suddenly they tell you that the first one is going to come out, which was Luca, then they lower the curtain and they show it to you and you can imagine. A lot of emotion. Then he was taken to a room next door, where you can see him, and they did some tests on him while they took out the second one. It took two minutes and they did the same thing, lowering the curtain and showing it to me.”

After giving birth, Grande was able to experience skin-to-skin contact with her daughter, Liah. However, the joy was soon tempered by concern when doctors determined that Luca needed to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). “They gave me Liah and we did skin to skin and I don’t remember much anymore. I heard the doctors talking. They took Juan with both babies to the resuscitation room, where I was going to go later, and that’s when everything got a little complicated because they told us that Luca had to go to the ICU. I have blurry memories,” she said.

Prior to the birth, Grande had been hospitalized for a week due to the risk of premature labor. Doctors were able to slow the contractions and work to mature Luca and Liah’s lungs. She was approximately 32-33 weeks pregnant when she was admitted to the hospital on December 23, 2025, after a routine check-up revealed her cervix had shortened rapidly and she was experiencing regular contractions. She was placed under observation to prevent premature labor, and doctors stressed the importance of strict bed rest even after her discharge.

As of today, February 5, 2026, Grande is reportedly resting at home with her twins and partner, Juan Antonio Iglesias, continuing to receive care and monitoring following the challenging birth experience.