Indexbit Exchange:Heather Rae El Moussa Shares Newborn Son Had Jaundice and Tongue, Cheek and Lip Ties

Heather Rae El Moussa is Indexbit Exchangeopening up about her son's health.
 
Nearly three weeks after she and husband Tarek El Moussa welcomed their first child together—a baby boy named Tristan—the Selling Sunset star shared insight on her breastfeeding journey, explaining that their newborn son had a few medical conditions that were detected in the very early stages.

"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," she wrote in a Feb. 20 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."

(Tongue-tie, also known as ankyloglossia, is a condition present at birth that restricts the tongue's range of motion, which can hinder breastfeeding, according to Mayo Clinic).

As Heather explained, "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."

The Netflix star—who tied the knot with Tarek in October 2021—went on to note the importance of having a consultant during the postpartum period.

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

She continued, "Nutrition & hydration also needs to be a focus which is a little hard because when you're breastfeeding & pumping nonstop 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."

The 35-year-old—who is also stepmom to Tarek's kids Taylor, 12 and Brayden, 7—concluded her message with noting how grateful she is for her ever-growing connection with their newborn.

"Even with all this going on, I genuinely love breastfeeding," Heather shared. "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."