Danielle Fishel Opens Up About Son Adler's Health Crisis — and His 21-Day Stay in the NICU

The formerBoy Meets Worldactress — who later reprised her role as Topanga Lawrence Matthews on its spin-off,Girl Meets World—opens up alongside husbandJensen Karpin this week’s issue of PEOPLE about Adler’s birth one month early, and his subsequent stay in the neonatal intensive care unit due to fluid build-up in his lungs. “Adler is bottle-fed because of the issue that he had, something called chylothorax. It’s a leak in the lymphatic system,” says Fishel, 38.

Danielle Fishel Reveals She Had to Stop Breastfeeding Her Newborn Son Adler During His Recovery

Seeing her son whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit right after his birth was hard enough, butDanielle Fishelsoon learned that mom guilt sets in pretty quickly too. In this week’s PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, theBoy Meets WorldandGirl Meets Worldalum recalls the harrowing experience following her and husbandJensen Karp‘s sonAdler Lawrence‘s June 24 birth one month early and subsequent three-week stay in the NICU after doctors noticed fluid retained in his lungs.

Danielle Fishel Reveals Son Adler Is Out of the Hospital: 'Now We Hope to Never Be Back'

“Thank you to everyone at @childrensla and especially our primary nurses @cassiejosharrod and @quyenlyyy,” Fishel continued. “We never wanted to know this hospital and its staff so well but now that we do, we can say with certainty there is no better place for children with medical needs.” “Now we hope to never be back. :),” she added. “Finally, our love and hugs to every single parent who has ever spent time in the NICU and especially those we left behind today.

Danielle Fishel Says She and Ben Savage Went on One Date to See If There Were 'Feelings There'

Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty; Randy Shropshire/Getty Danielle Fishelmay have disappointed die-hardBoy Meets Worldfans at 90s Con when she revealed that a real-life romance with costarBen Savagenever happened. When asked on Saturday if she ever had a relationship with her costar from the popular coming-of-age 1990s sitcom, Fishel said, “No, we never dated.” However, after a couple of years of playing childhood sweethearts Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence, Fishel admitted that she and Savage did try to give it a shot.

Danielle Fishel Says She Was Worried Her 'Boy Meets World' Podcast Would 'Ruin' the Sitcom (Exclusive)

Danielle Fishel.Photo:David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartRadio David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartRadio Danielle Fishelis speaking candidly about the reason why she and herPod Meets Worldcollaborators feared that the program would “ruin"Boy Meets World. The actress, 42, chatted exclusively with PEOPLE at theiHeartRadio Music Festivalin Las Vegas on Friday, when she revealed that she,Rider StrongandWilliam Friedle— who rewatch every episode ofBoy Meets Worldand share memories and anecdotes of the series on the podcast — thought it might taint fans’ feelings of the sitcom.