Heather Rae El Moussa Gets Real About Her Breastfeeding Challenges

Heather Rae El Moussa is opening up about her struggles with breastfeeding.

In a new Instagram post, the Selling Sunset star told fans that her 3-week-old son Tristan had been diagnosed with tongue tie, cheek tie, lip tie and jaundice. While her son’s condition was “luckily caught very early on thanks to my incredible lactation specialist and @tonguetietribe,” the star said her breastfeeding experience has definitely been a journey.

“I thought…. I’ll just pop him on my boob and feed him anytime. Ya no,” the realtor confessed. Her son’s diagnoses have “[made] it very hard for him to latch and suck and it made it so that he was burning a lot of calories because it was so hard for him to eat, so his weight was dropping,” she shared. “We’re now 2 weeks past getting his tongue tie fixed and he’s latching so well on the left side and we’re still working on the right side using non-traditional positions which were shown to me by the baby fairies.”

“Having a lactation specialist and someone you can turn to is something I highly recommend if you choose to breastfeed. I had many tearful nights in the beginning because I’d be up at 3am trying to feed him and felt so defeated,” she added.

Outside of getting the advice of a lactation specialist, El Moussa also encouraged breastfeeding moms to take care of themselves by hydrating and eating well. “I have lots of water and special drinks like coconut water and greater than drinks. I also suggest getting on a meal plan if you don’t have time to cook, especially in the beginning,” she said.

Despite all of her ups and downs, El Moussa said that she genuinely loves breastfeeding. “I love the skin-to-skin connection and think it’s such a beautiful bonding experience. It might be hard and challenging at the moment but it is such a special experience that I get to share with our baby boy and we’re working together to make it easier like we’re a little team.”

Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa Share Their Son’s Name and Photo

The house-flipping duo went on the record today to share their son’s name and the inspiration behind it. “Tristan Jay El Moussa,” Heather told US Weekly. “Tarek was supposed to be named Tristan, and his parents ended up naming him Tarek. And then my dad’s middle name is Jay. So it’s four generations of the middle name Jay.” Tristan a gender-neutral name of Celtic origin, has maintained steady popularity among baby boys over the past few years.

Along with the origin story behind baby Tristan’s name Rae also shared photos of her newborn and details about his birth.

“He was supposed to be born on the 27th of January, and he was born on the 31st of January,” Rae recalled. Although baby Tristan arrived later than expected, Rae described the chaotic scene of rushing to the hospital after receiving news that baby’s movement had decreased during a regular appointment.

“Tarek and I were like, ‘Wait, what do you mean right now?’ And I said, ‘Can I go home and grab my hospital bag that I’ve been prepping for months now and can I go home and wash my hair?’ Like, I hadn’t washed my hair in four days ’cause I didn’t think I was gonna be going to the hospital after this appointment. And she said, ‘No, you can’t. You need to get monitored.’”

Once the El Moussas got settled at the hospital Rae gave birth to baby Tristan in what Tarek called a “surreal moment.” “I knew it was happening, but … it was like a feeling that I didn’t even know [could happen]. And it was just such a beautiful thing.”

Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa Welcome Baby Boy

The couple’s son arrived on Tuesday according to a Instagram post made by El Moussa Thursday evening. “Our baby boy is here, 1.31.23,” he wrote on alongside a photo of his newborn wrapped in a blanket in Mom’s arms. “Mama & baby are happy, healthy, tired but doing well. Our hearts are so happy.”

The baby is the duo’s first child together. He will join El Moussa’s older children—Brayden, 7, and Taylor, 12, from the house flipper’s first marriage to Christina Hall.

Heather Rae’s Tries “Natural Ways” to Jumpstart Labor

At 40 weeks pregnant and just days before going into labor Heather Rae was doing all she could to get her baby boy moving!

The Selling Sunset realtor opened up on Instagram and to US Weekly about all the “natural ways” she’s trying to jumpstart labor. “I am just leaving acupuncture. I did acupuncture to induce labor, and I’ll tell you guys a couple other things I’ve been doing,” El Moussa said in an Instagram Story video on January 27.

“[I’ve been eating] dates, [drinking] raspberry tea, I did pressure point massage. I’m going on a lot of walks, obviously some adult stuff, bouncing on exercise ball, [and] acupuncture. Like, when I do walks, I walk kind of, like, an up-down [on the curb] and walk on the sand as well,” she said.

El Moussa also touted her excitement for getting a famous “labor salad” from Caioti Pizza Café, a local Los Angeles eatery. The restaurant offers a romaine and watercress salad that is tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and has been known to kickstart labor for more than a few expectant mothers.

It would seem that El Moussa’s efforts may have worked. The reality TV star welcomed her son just two days after her weekend of salads, acupuncture and walks.

Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa’s Sex Reveal Party

Rae and El Moussa announced the happy news that they were expecting a boy on Instagram in mid-July. In the short post, the happy couple and their blended family fire confetti cannons into the air, excitedly yelling “It’s a boy!” as the blend of blue and white paper falls.

Rae wore a backless white dress with a silver chain reading Baby El Moussa to the affair while El Moussa opted for a simple white tee with blue jeans. Coworkers like Jason Oppenheim and friends like Christine Bullock sent their congratulations to the couple in the comments.

Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa Announce They’re Expecting

Just weeks before the reveal, Rae and El Moussa shocked fans by sharing they were expecting their first baby together. The pregnancy wasn’t only surprising to fans but to the loving parents themselves. According to People, the couple was only a few weeks into their IVF journey and even scheduled a date to transfer an embryo next fall when they found out Rae was already pregnant.

“It was a huge shock,” said Rae. “We just weren’t expecting this. We had just gone through IVF. We had embryos on ice. We had a plan.” But amidst her shock, the former model was overjoyed. “I think when you least expect it and there’s no stress in your life, the world just brought us what was meant to be. I’m so excited that it happened like this.”

Rae surprised her husband with the news by wrapping her pregnancy test up in a box of confetti with a baby onesie. When El Moussa opened the box, he didn’t immediately string two and two together. “I’m opening up this box and there are these sticks. I’m staring at them and thinking, are these COVID tests? And then I said, ‘Oh, s—-! Are you pregnant?’ She said yes, and that’s how we found out," El Moussa told People.

While it wasn’t always the home-flipping pair’s plan to have children together, Rae says that her desire to be more than a stepmom grew as their love deepened.

“When we first started dating three years ago, we went into our relationship not planning on having children together. I really love being a bonus mom to Taylor and Brayden. They’re such incredible kids and I love them so much," Rae told people. “But as your love grows more and more and you fall deeper in love with someone and you build this life together, I started picturing myself having a child with Tarek. I started thinking I just wanted to create something with the man that I’m in love with.”

El Moussa, who shares kids Taylor, 11 and Brayden, 6, with ex Christina Hall, joined in his wife’s happiness around welcoming another child to the family, saying, “I’m just obsessed with my kids. They’re my everything, so having another one is just icing on the cake. I’m so excited."

Congratulations to the El Moussa’s on their new addition!