Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin just announced they're expecting their fifth child! The pair always imagined having a big family together. They got married in 2012 and are already the parents of Carmen, Rafael, Leonardo, and Romeo.
This news is especially joyous, as Hilaria and Alec suffered through two miscarriages in 2019. While miscarriages are very common, they're still heartbreaking. For a woman to have two in a row causes even more heartache. For Hilaria, being in the public eye doesn't help. Even if she were to keep the news a secret, it's likely someone would have still spilled the beans to the paparazzi. Hilaria revealed the news on her own terms.
That said, it's a great thing for Hilaria to talk about. It makes other women suffering from fertility issues feel less alone. It's proof that it can happen to anyone and a reminder that pregnancy can have unexpected twists. Approximately one in five pregnancies ends with an unexpected loss. Typically, it's due to a problem with chromosomes.
According to USA Today, Hilaria's recent announcement on Instagram was posted around four months after she last discussed her miscarriages.
Hilaria posted about the pregnancy on Instagram. Her reveal was very sweet: "Sound up…I’ll let the baby do the talking because I don’t have the words to express how this sound makes us feel." The sound in the video is that of a baby's heartbeat through use of a fetal Doppler device.
"Just got the great news that all is well and all is healthy with this little munchkin," she continued. "I wanted to share this with you. Here we go again." This will be Alec's sixth child, as he shares daughter Ireland with his ex-wife Kim Basinger. Ireland is currently 24 years old.
Ireland has an interesting relationship with her father. Back in 2007, Alec made headlines for an abusive voicemail message that he left for her. However, it seems as if the two of them have moved on — Ireland even joked about the past during Comedy Central's roast of her father. She's in the midst of carving out her own career.
Hilaria has posted countless photos and videos of her husband embracing fatherhood these days. It may seem a little crazy to have four children who are 6 and under, but they all seem to be embracing it. It seems that while they'd be happy with either sex, Hilaria is pushing for another little girl.
That feeling might be due to the video she posted to announce her devastating miscarriage last year. In the video, she's talking to her daughter Carmen, who is the oldest of their children together. "I told Carmen and took this so I could send it to Alec," she said. "I guess this is a good way to share it with you too. I told her that this baby isn’t going to come after all…but we will try very hard to give her a little sister another time."
While the video is sad, it's obvious that Carmen is incredibly sweet and supportive of her mom. Hilaria's caption was definitely raw, as she had just received the bad news. "I’m really devastated right now…I was not expecting this when I went to my scan today," she wrote. "I don’t know what else to say."
Their second miscarriage of 2019 reportedly happened in November, when she was four months along. So news that this pregnancy is going well is truly a high point for 2020. While it's a strange time for pregnant women, especially with overcrowded hospitals, those working in labor and delivery have done the best they can to make sure every birth goes as well as possible.
Even just based on the photos alone, it's apparent that Hilaria was made for motherhood. But according to her, she was a little hesitant at first. "When I met Alec, he was very focused that he wanted kids. I was 27 — I knew I wanted kids but it wasn’t something I was thinking about right then," she revealed to People magazine.
"I was like, ‘Am I going to like this?’ And I remember as soon as they put her on my chest after I pushed her out, I felt like, ‘I need to do this again.’ And we did." After the birth of Carmen, Hilaria went on to have three boys. But she admitted that when she realized her second would be a son, she panicked a little bit.
"I feel like mothers, regardless of what gender they have first, with the next one they’re like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to change this diaper because it’s different, and I don’t know how I’m going to dress this baby,’" she said. But now she's got a ton of experience.
She's also a great inspiration for moms who are looking for better ways to balance their schedules. Hilaria is a big fan of working out and doing yoga, and she also knows the importance of having time to yourself. That said, she's fully aware that her type of lifestyle is different from most moms out there.
"I will have days where I work really hard, but then I have days that I can stay home with [the kids]. It is a very luxurious way to work as a mother because it allows you to be really present with your kids, and I realize that it’s quite special that I get to have that," she told New York Family.
She also believes in the importance of communication, especially when it comes to teaching her children healthy habits. "You can’t underestimate the power of talking to your kids," she said. "When my daughter was 2 years old she just was so talkative. I was asking for different parenting tips and tricks and it was suggested that I just talk to her. I felt so silly in that moment, and I was mind blown because I just needed to talk to my child."
No matter what, it seems like Hilaria has got parenting down. Her fifth child will be born into a great family filled with love. Just know that if you have suffered from miscarriages, it doesn't mean that you weren't meant for parenthood. It's a struggle many people go through, but they often go on to have a happy ending.
