Heavy Pregnancy announcement
Less than a year after welcoming their second child, “American Idol” alums Gabby Barrett and Cade Foehner surprised fans on August 30, 2023, with the announcement their expecting a third baby. The couple announced their baby news in a joint Instagram post that included video of Barrett listening to an at-home ultrasound machine and fans reacted with shock and excitement over the news.
Barrett and Foehner met on Season 16 of “Idol” in 2018 and married the next year, according to People. They have two children — two-year-old Baylah May and 10-month-old Augustine Boone — and are excited to expand their family with another little girl, despite facing challenging pregnancy complications in the past. Here’s what you need to know:
Friends & Fans Celebrate Baby News With Gabby Barrett & Cade Foehner
When Barrett, now 23, and Foehner, now 27, met on “Idol” in 2018, Foehner finished in the top 5 on the show and Barrett came in third, behind runner-up Caleb Lee Hutchinson and winner Maddie Poppe, who also fell in love on the show. Barrett and Foehner married the next year, according to People, but Hutchinson and Poppe have since broken up.
Barrett has taken the country music industry by storm since her “Idol” run, winning the CMT Artist of the Year award in 2021 after scoring multi-platinum hits with “I Hope” and “The Good Ones.”
After the birth of baby Baylah, she told ET Online, “When I first got married, that changed me in a lot of different ways. It makes you grow up in a lot of different ways and then when you have a baby you grow up in even more ways.”
Barrett and Foehner announced their latest baby news in a joint Instagram post which was captioned, “SWIPE for a surprise ❤️” along with the hashtag #livingthedream.
In the first photo, the couple is seen sitting on a purple-hued stage with an out-of-focus black box toward the front of the picture. In the second photo, Barrett and Foehner are out-of-focus while the box clearly reads “Baby #3.”
The third and last slide features a black and white video of Barrett resting in bed with the wand of an at-home ultrasound on her belly as she listens to her little one’s heartbeat.
“There she is,” she whispers, and then looks at the camera with a small smile.
Famous friends and fans reacted swiftly to the unexpected news, with most sharing their surprise, delight and hopes for another healthy baby.
“American Idol” Season 11 alum Colton Dixon, who collaborated with Barrett on the popular 2022 Christian single “Build a Boat,” wrote to the couple, “CONGRATS YOU GUYS!!!!! Woooooooooo!!!!”
Rising country star Chase Matthew, sister duo Neoni and Grace West, runner up on season 23 of “The Voice,” all sent their congratulations, too.
Within hours of the announcement, nearly 1,500 people had weighed in, including a fan comment that Barrett liked which said, “Congrats! We had 3 boys ages 3 & under. It was a wild ride and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!”
Another comment Barrett gave her stamp of approval to said, “Omg so happy for you two. Babies are a true blessing.”
Barrett also liked a comment in which someone wrote, “Our lords biggest most amazing blessing(s), children 🤍. CONGRATULATIONS!”
Gabby Barrett Has Suffered From Pregnancy Complications in the Past
Barrett recently paid tribute to the life she and Foehner have created with the release of her newest single, “Glory Days,” and the accompanying music video featuring footage of them and their kids.
She recently told Wide Open Country, “(The song is about) all the things that are happening with career and the kids and the family and just the awesome life that we are getting to live right now. I am in the middle of my glory days.”
Barrett clearly seems thrilled to be expecting again, but she has suffered from pregnancy complications in the past. In fact, she stopped opening for Jason Aldean halfway through his 2022 tour in order to spend her third trimester resting last fall.
During a fan Q&A in her Instagram Stories last August, one fan asked whether her and Foehner’s second baby was planned and Barrett answered, “Not really. It was a clear prayer answered though. I had a very difficult first pregnancy (I can talk about that more if interested) but still a blessing of course!”
Fans did, of course, want to know more. Barrett then shared that when she was expecting her daughter Baylah, she developed a challenging skin condition called PUPPS rash that, she wrote, “covered my entire body.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the condition — pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy — is “an extremely irritating hive-like rash” that does not harm mom or baby, but the itching can be very difficult to manage until it disappears after the baby is born.
In addition to dealing with PUPPS, Barrett was also diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia after her first pregnancy. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is a rare condition that occurs when a new mother has high blood pressure and excess protein in her urine soon after childbirth. The condition requires prompt treatment because it can cause seizures and other serious complications. It can also reoccur in subsequent pregnancies, but she has not said whether it returned after Augustine’s birth.
When she was pregnant with Augustine last year, Barrett revealed in the same Q&A that we suddenly dealing with blood pressure that was too low, which was zapping her energy.
“I struggle with very low blood pressure almost everyday in this pregnancy,” she wrote, “which makes it hard to have energy to perform.”
According to VeryWellFamily.com, chronic low blood pressure during pregnancy can cause severe fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, and trouble concentrating. If it’s caused by a medication, like the one Barrett may still be on to prevent preeclampsia again, doctors must monitor the situation closely.
Barrett and Foehner, who plays guitar in her band, have five concerts in September left on their 2023 tour including September 1 in Nashville, where they have a home, and three dates in Texas, where Foehner hails from. The couple has not revealed a due date for their third child.