Jennifer Love Hewitt is getting to welcome baby number three to the family! The 9-1-1 star announced Tuesday to PEOPLE that she and husband Brian Hallisay are expecting their third child together, joining son Atticus James, 5, and daughter Autumn James, 7, in the family. Hewitt shared with the outlet that her pregnancy is a happy surprise.
“We had always been open to a third, but definitely didn’t think in the crazy year that the entire world was having that it would necessarily be this moment,” the actress, 42, explained, “I feel like we’ve been able to so far raise two really special kids who will be great role models. This has been such a pleasant, beautiful, surprising gift in this time to be able to get to do all that again with another little human.”
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Hewitt’s son may have been the first to know she was pregnant, pointing out a pregnancy test commercial on TV before the actress even knew she was expecting. “My son out of nowhere was like, ‘Hey Mommy, you should order one of those in case there’s a baby in your belly,’” she recalled. “I was like, ‘How rude! I just ate a big dinner. What is he talking about?’ It stuck with me, and they’ve been asking off and on for a year or so for a sibling. We weren’t closed off to the idea, it just wasn’t something that we were actively thinking about.”
Sure enough, when she did take a test, she learned her son had been correct with his hunch. Hewitt’s two older kids are “so excited” to welcome a little sibling, and the Fox drama star has been having an interesting experience playing a pregnant woman on 9-1-1 while expecting herself. “The craziest, most surreal moment was having to give birth while being pregnant. That was very interesting,” she explained of life on set. “And it was definitely a nauseous day for me. So that came with its own challenges, but it was a good recall back to those beautiful, amazing moments that you feel really excited about.”
Although she was brought back to the “really excited place” of anticipating labor and generally loves “the experience” of being pregnant, the I Know What You Did Last Summer star is pretty sure her third baby will be her last: “I’m pretty sure. I don’t think I could do another one. I think five is a great number.”
