Candiace Dillard Bassett is missing her pregnancy curves.
Former The Real Housewives of Potomac star — who welcomed son Jett Maxwell Lee Bassett with husband Chris Bassett last month — tells PEOPLE exclusively that she wishes she hadn’t lost so much weight so quickly.
“[I’m] angry because I celebrated my fatness. So I, yeah, really regret losing my 141 pounds,” says Candiace, 37, noting that she’s “probably between 108 and 110 [lbs.]”before pregnancy.
“But my last weigh-in [while pregnant]i weighed 141.1 pounds. And I was so proud of every single kilogram,” she says. “I gained legs, hips and body. I was so happy to be fat. It was fun!”
Her husband also loved her pregnant figure. “Oh my God, he was in pig heaven grabbing everything, grabbing all the flesh on my body,” jokes Candiace.
Candiace Dillard Bassett and her son Jett.
Antwon Maxwell
While Chris and Candiace’s sister Crystal assured her that her “butt is still big,” the former reality star is disappointed with some of the changes she’s seeing in her body as she loses weight.
“My nipples sagged and my stomach almost completely disappeared,” she tells PEOPLE. “But they say I still have a bum and my thighs are still big. So I hope it stays and I hope my bum stays. But yeah, I’m smaller.”
Candiace Dillard Bassett reveals her pregnancy is ’95 percent’ the reason she quit RHOP: ‘It’s not smart’
Candiace — who announced her departure from RHOP in March after six seasons on the show — tells PEOPLE that she also misses being pregnant, despite initially thinking she wouldn’t enjoy the experience.
“I loved being pregnant, which is also a shock because I thought I would hate it. And I was so afraid of being sick and not accepting the changes in my body and all these unknown things you read about,” she explains.
“And it was literally the complete opposite,” she continues. “I loved every bit of my pregnancy. It was the most amazing experience ever. I almost regret not being pregnant anymore because I loved it so much.”
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Candiace Dillard Bassett, husband Chris Bassett and their son Jett.
Antwon Maxwell
Since her son arrived on October 3, Candiace has been adjusting to her new role as a mother – with the help of her “mommy village”, which she described as “amazing” and “otherworldly”.
“Two days ago, one of my sister contestants spoke to me and I didn’t answer, then she reached out again and said, ‘I’m going to check on you until you answer.’ And in the end I unloaded on her, just all my feelings and emotions and how it’s such a roller coaster of emotions,” she recalls her friend’s support. “And she was sharing her birth journey with her two kids, and just unsolicited advice I didn’t know I needed coming from all my mommy friends.”
Candiace Dillard Bassett pauses labor for 10 minutes to put on makeup: ‘My son doesn’t greet me exhausted’ (Exclusive)
Candiace says the “cherry on top of having a baby later” is that many of her friends have already experienced pregnancy and childbirth, allowing her to tap into their wisdom and expertise.
“They’re just a wealth of knowledge and information and support because they’ve been there, done that, and I just feel — I feel cocooned,” she explains. “I feel so safe because I have so many great moms around me who just make me smarter.”
A month after welcoming Jett, the former Bravo star shared the news of his birth exclusively with PEOPLE, saying she and her husband “couldn’t be happier” to have a son in their lives.
“He’s just the cutest little creature,” she raved. “It’s such a cliché to say, but he brought such joy into our lives in ways I could never describe before. It’s pure love!”
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Source: HIS Education