Heather Rae El Moussa: My Newborn Son Had Jaundice; Tongue and Lip Ties
A scary challenge. Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) opened up about son Tristan‘s struggles with breast-feeding amid some health challenges.
Heather and Tarek El Moussa's Son Tristan's Baby Album: Photos
“Have been in mama hibernation mode for the past couple weeks but soaking up some fresh air today with my lovey,” the Selling Sunset star, 35, wrote via Instagram on Monday, February 20. “As promised, I want to talk to you guys about my breastfeeding journey because it’s definitely been a journey !! I thought…. I’ll just pop him on my boob and feed him anytime. Ya no!!!”
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Heather gave birth to her first child with Tarek El Moussa on January 31. The Flip or Flop alum, 41, also shares daughter Taylor, 12, and son Brayden, 7, with ex-wife Christina Hall (née Haack).
After welcoming Tristan, Heather found herself struggling with breast-feeding, but she turned to a lactation specialist to help her find a solution. The professional discovered that Tristan had some health issues that needed to be addressed.
“Tristan had tongue tie, cheek tie, lip tie and jaundice which were all caught very early on thanks to my incredible lactation specialist and @tonguetietribe, they’re literally baby fairies
,” Heather continued in her Instagram post. “I’m so lucky to have found them for the knowledge & support
but it made it very hard for him to latch & 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.”
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The real estate agent offered some advice for fellow moms: remember to take care of yourself.
“Nutrition & hydration also needs to be a focus which is a little hard because when you’re breastfeeding & pumping non stop there’s not a ton of time to take care of yourself — you get so focused on your baby & that you really have to remember to take care of yourself so I have lots of water and special drinks like coconut water and greater than drinks,” she explained. “I also suggest getting on a meal plan if you don’t have time to cook especially in the beginning.”
While she initially struggled, nearly one month into motherhood, Heather is a big fan of breast-feeding. “Even with all this going on, I genuinely love breastfeeding,” she wrote. “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.”
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Earlier this month, the Netflix star opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about her first days as a mom. “I’ve been learning about the body and about babies and what our body does to help your baby survive,” Heather 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.”
