Bouncing back! Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) gave birth less than one month ago, but her healing process is already off to a good start.
“My recovery has been a little bit quicker,” the Selling Sunset star, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly after welcoming son Tristan on January 31, explaining that she had a vaginal birth rather than a C-section. “I feel like you just have to jump into it. You have this whole new mommy sense that comes out of you.”
The reality star and her husband, Tarek El Moussa, welcomed their first child last month after tying the knot in October 2021. The Flip or Flop alum, 41, also shares daughter Taylor, 12, and son Brayden, 7, with ex-wife Christina Hall (née Haack).
While Heather has gained parenthood experience as a stepmom to Taylor and Brayden, she told Us that nothing could have prepared her for the feeling of giving birth.
“I had this whole new appreciation for moms,” the real estate pro explained. “I love being a stepmom to Tay and Bray, but having my own and carrying him and then going through the labor and going through all the experiences, it’s obviously something I’ve never experienced. … It’s just such a beautiful thing that the female body can do.”
Tristan is only two weeks old, but Heather and her son are quickly settling in to a routine.
“I’ve been learning about the body and about babies and what our body does to help your baby survive,” the California native told Us. “Like, he’ll find my breast and he’ll crawl at my stomach to find it to go feed. And I leak when he’s on me because my body knows he’s on me. So, it’s just all these things that your body can do that I never got to experience before. I have this whole appreciation of the female body.”
Earlier this month, the Oppenheim Group agent gave fans an update on how she’s been doing since welcoming Tristan. “1 week postpartum,” she captioned a February 8 selfie shared via Instagram. “My activities include breast-feeding, pumping [and] repeat.”
Tarek, for his part, said the new mom has been “doing great” since the little one’s arrival. “She’s a rockstar mom, of course,” the TLC personality told Us. “She’s on top of everything with the baby and she’s just doing fantastic.”
The couple, who started dating in July 2019, announced they were expecting their first child together in July 2022. “Surprise!!! Baby El Moussa coming early 2023!!” Heather wrote via Instagram at the time, sharing photos from the couple’s maternity shoot.
The Netflix star had previously been open about the twosome’s IVF journey, telling Us in May 2022 that Tarek had been an incredible source of support during the difficult process. “[He] would just hug me and say, ‘It’ll be over soon,’” she recalled at the time, noting that her husband would comfort her on the days she “didn’t even wanna get out of bed” by saying, “It’s not you. It’s just the hormones.”
She added: “If I didn’t have him, I don’t know how I would have gotten through it.”
With reporting by Leanne Aciz Stanton
