HGTV’s Tarek & Heather El Moussa Welcome New Baby: FIRST PHOTO

Getty Heather and Tarek El Moussa in June 2022

Longtime HGTV host Tarek El Moussa is a dad again! He and his wife, Heather El Moussa, welcomed their first child together on January 31, 2023. The couple shared the good news in a joint Instagram post on February 2, but did not yet reveal their baby’s name. The couple shared an image of their hands over the baby’s torso but did not share his face in their first photo.

They wrote, “Our baby boy is here … 1.31.23. Mama & baby are happy, healthy, tired but doing well. Our hearts are so happy”

The couple first announced their surprise pregnancy via social media in July 2022, and have chronicled the journey ever since for fans, from sharing ultrasound pictures to prepping their baby’s nursery. Though they confirmed in December that their little one was due in January, the month nearly passed them by, with Heather making countless attempts to naturally induce labor, including trying tips sent in by fans.

Tarek & Heather El Moussa Welcome New Baby Into Their Blended Family

“Becoming a father for the third time is just as exciting as it was the first time. Our baby boy is doing amazing and Heather was a rockstar during labor,” Tarek told Us Weekly in a statement on February 2. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tay and Bray as happy as they were when they met their little brother.”

While Tarek shares 12-year-old daughter Taylor and seven-year-old son Brayden with ex-wife and former “Flip or Flop” co-star Christina Hall, their newborn is the first child for Heather, a Los Angeles real estate broker who stars on Netflix’s “Selling Sunset.” The couple’s own HGTV show, “The Flipping El Moussas,” is set to debut on March 2.

“We are on cloud 9 and soaking in all of the snuggles and bonding with our little guy as an official family of 5,” he told Us Weekly. “My heart has grown even bigger and I’m feeling like the luckiest guy on the planet.”

The El Moussas, who married in October 2021, were surprised to learn they were expecting a baby last summer, given that they didn’t think they would get pregnant naturally. They’d begun the IVF process and, as they told People Magazine, were scheduled to transfer an embryo in the fall.

To make their pregnancy news public, they posted images on social media from a professional photo shoot with Taylor and Brayden on the beach, wearing custom white t-shirts that read “Big Sister” and “Big Brother” above the announcement “Baby El Moussa Coming January 2023.” The El Moussas share 50/50 custody of Taylor and Brayden with Hall, and Heather has said she relishes her role as their “bonus mom.”

Though she feels completely comfortable parenting them and has repeatedly shared how much she loves Tarek’s kids, she was nervous about welcoming her own newborn. So she shared on Instagram in December that she’d taken a birthing class to prepare herself and feel more confident about the birth.

“I did my birthing class yesterday,” she wrote in her post. “For anyone like me that said nah I don’t need it I’m ready…. Wow I learned a lot. She came to my house so I felt more comfortable & in my own environment. Not sure about any of my mamas out there, but with their first baby, I swear the moment I felt a contraction I probably would’ve freaked out made Tarek stop whatever he was doing to take me to the hospital. She taught me some tricks to try before rushing to the hospital- so much information I did not know.”

Tarek & Heather El Moussa Shared Much of Their Pregnancy Journey With Fans on Social Media

The El Moussas are both very engaged on social media, sometimes posting multiple times a day on Instagram and TikTok, so they shared much of their pregnancy highs and lows with their fans that way.

For instance, the couple shared lots of photos and videos from a glitzy gender reveal party held for friends and family in late July. After a countdown by guests, they all released confetti cannons that released blue paper into the air. Tarek jumped up and down, kissed his wife, and yelled, “It’s a boy! It’s a boy!”

Heather has also shared pregnancy milestones like their first ultrasound images, her luxury baby shower in November, and revealing the design of their nursery to Access Hollywood. The new mom also periodically shared her struggles with severe sciatica, which caused her doctor to put her on bed rest just before Christmas.

By the time mid-January arrived, Heather said her acupuncture and physical therapy treatments had alleviated much of her back pain, and she felt ready for her baby’s arrival. But their little one had other plans. The mom-to-be started sharing all the ways she was trying to move him along and induce labor.

On January 25, she shared a photo in her Stories of her walking their dog, Bugzy, and wrote, “Walking, walking, walking…impatiently waiting.”

The same day, she shared photos of her parents stopping by their Newport Beach, California, home and wrote in her Stories, “We are all waiting…me impatiently.”

On January 27, Heather posted photos from her glam maternity shoot in her Instagram feed and wrote, “Instagram vs reality is real, I’m posting these maternity photos of me all glammed up when really I’m in jammies and sweats at home until further notice…it’s been HARD for me to relax as I love working.”

She also shared in her Stories that she’d tried every tip she’d heard of for inducing labor, from raspberry tea to exercise to intimate moments with Tarek. She even had a friend drive nearly two hours to deliver the infamous salad from Caioti Pizza Cafe in Studio City, rumored to have jumpstarted labor for many moms-to-be.

CEO Gloria Juarez told ABC7 in 2021, “Over 30 years ago, a group of ladies came in. They all had similar due dates. They all had the salad and went into labor. Since then, we get from 15 to 30 females a day to have the salad to go into labor.”

“Here we go,” Heather wrote over a photo of the so-called “labor salad” in her Instagram Stories on Saturday. “The ‘famous’ labor salad…Supposed to be what’s in the dressing. I added my own vegan cheese, avocado, raisins.”

It’s not known yet when Heather first went into labor, but their little one was born three days later.