‘RHONJ’ Star Announces Pregnancy: Rachel Fuda Expecting Baby With Husband John

Rachel Fuda and John Fuda are adding another member to the family. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star announced Sunday, Aug. 11, that she was pregnant with her third child. Rachel shared her big baby news with her RHONJ co-stars during a toast in Sunday’s Season 14 Off the Rails episode.

As Melissa Gorga began, “There’s a lot of life to be had…” Rachel chimed in, “Considering I’m pregnant!” She added, “We’re ready to be a party of six!” The Fudas also share daughters Gianella Jolie, 4, and Giuliana Rose, 2, as well as Jaiden, John’s 17-year-old son from a previous relationship who Rachel adopted. 

“When I was a little girl, I dreamt of my life as a mother, filling my future home with family and love. I’m forever grateful to God for allowing me to live my dream every day,” Rachel wrote on Instagram alongside a video of her family’s big announcement. “With full hearts, we are counting our many blessings as we excitedly anticipate becoming a family of 6.”

Rachel has been open about her IVF journey, as Gianella, Giuliana and the new baby were conceived via IVF. In Season 13 of the Bravo show, Rachel told her husband that she wanted to go through IVF again to see if they would be able to implant any of the five viable embryos they had remaining.  “The clock is ticking,” she told him on the show. “I just feel like, four kids, that’s a good number. The time is now. This is, like, a year process. I want to do this and be done.”

It was a difficult road for Rachel, who had to come off her arthritis medication before attempting to get pregnant. Just when she had begun to give up hope that her doctor would approve a transfer, she got the all-clear.  “I thought, ‘This is my last shot. If this doesn’t work, we’re done,’” she told PEOPLE. “Because first of all, it costs a lot of money. But second of all, you’re on all these medications that just throw your body off. I was hormonal, breaking out so bad, tired and on edge; my mood was going up, down, up, down. I just felt like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”

The transfer fortunately took, which Rachel learned with a pregnancy test she took online. “They make you wait 10 days for your blood test, but I had to know so I took a test and it came back positive,” she shared with the outlet. “And then I was like, ‘Well, let me not say anything to John, just in case God forbid it’s a false positive.’ So I wait until I got the call and then surprised him with the happy news.”