Erin Andrews Shares First Photos of Baby, Opens Up About Becoming a Mother, Surrogacy Journey

"We both wanna nail it better than each other," the sportscaster revealed on TODAY when talking about her and her husband's approaches to parenthood

Erin Andrews is showing off her baby boy!

The FOX sportscaster, 45, and her retired NHL player husband Jarret Stoll, welcomed their first baby — a boy named Mack — in late June, via surrogate. The couple, began dating in 2012 and were married in 2016, with Mack joining their family following a 9-year-long fertility journey.

Now, as she shares the first pics of her baby — two of them exclusively with PEOPLE — Andrews is sharing more about her journey to becoming a mom.

On Friday, Andrews opened up on both TODAY and in a feature for Glamour about her experiences with IVF and surrogacy. The sportscaster underwent IVF treatments for several years and had her life change in 2016 after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. At the time of her diagnosis, she had already frozen eggs, and the couple then underwent treatment to produce embryos.

Talking to hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on TODAY, Andrews said that for a long time, she had "wanted to be quiet about" her IVF treatment, but she soon realized she was "not the only one" going through the experience. The sportscaster then said she hoped that by speaking out, she might be "somebody people could look at and be like, she's going through it too, it would help the whole process for all of us."

In her Glamour feature, Andrews detailed more about her and Stoll's journey to parenthood and shared how her own fertility journey had helped her reflect on how to communicate about the subject.

"Women may be intimidated to talk about fertility with men. Sometimes we don't want to have the conversation about just getting engaged. Imagine having to broach the subject of fertility," she shared with the outlet. "That's not easy either. But honestly, my advice to any woman is just do your thing. And until you become a unit, you have to worry about you. And that's something I was proud of myself for doing. But obviously things got real for us."

Andrews added that after the cancer was removed following "multiple surgeries," she later began to open up about her fertility journey — including on her Calm Down podcast after her eight round of IVF treatment. The sportscaster also shared a personal essay on Facebook's Bulletin in 2021.

In the summer of 2020, after reflecting that Andrews was "not getting pregnant" and that the couple didn't "have many embryos to work with," she and Stoll "decided we should take this surrogacy route," she told Glamour. The couple tragically lost two babies after being paired with a family in 2021, a period Andrews admitted was "really, really hard." The loss eventually led the pair "to this organization that we were able to find our new surrogate with," she said.

"Experiencing pregnancy with our surrogate was amazing," she added in the feature. "I tell everybody she was the perfect fit for us because she was calm, positive and just so loving. Maybe the opposite of me with the calm part, which I think my husband was very happy about. My girl was very special. When the baby was starting to get bigger, she'd turn on the playoffs because she'd say, 'I want him to hear your voice.'"

Related: Who Is Erin Andrews' Husband? All About Jarret Stoll

Andrews also told TODAY that her surrogacy journey was "incredible," with one specific moment that she said she'll never forget.

"Right before [Mack] came, she asked to hold my hand. So I grabbed her hand, I saw the tear coming down her face, and he came fast. My man was ready...Hence he's got a good little head on him," Andrews said. "He was fast and they just gave him to her and put him on her and cleaned him up, and then gave him to us. It was just like, 'Hello, how are you?'"

Related: Erin Andrews Is a Mom! Sportscaster and Husband Jarret Stoll Welcome First Baby After 9-Year IVF Journey

As for how she and her NHL husband, 41, are finding parenthood, Andrews said on TODAY it was "great" before joking that the pair still have a bit of competitive edge in them — even outside of the sports world. She admitted though that he's better at burping, but she's much better at swaddling.

"We both wanna nail it better than each other. If he starts peeing through his diaper, I'll say, 'I got it, I got it,' because I want to [do it] better than him."

While there might be some competition at home, Andrews and Stoll have certainly come together for little Mack — as shown in new photos of the baby. One picture shared on TODAY shows both parents doting over him, while two new shots shared exclusively with PEOPLE show Mack's mom holding her beloved boy and feeding him a bottle, and a close up of the adorable baby.

The sportscaster also told reflected on the impact of motherhood with Guthrie and Kotb, saying that she hopes it "makes me take a huge breath and be like, alright, chill out, you don't want this baby to feel this."

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Andrews had a few more sweet words about being a mom in her Glamour feature.

"The best part of being a mom so far is seeing my husband with Mack. He's wanted a baby forever. Just sitting there watching my husband with him. He was so excited to just sit and watch Seinfeld with him. I’m excited for this next chapter. I'm excited to watch a game with my kid. I can't wait to watch Monday Night Football with my son," Andrews, who credits Family Match Consulting with helping match her with her surrogate, told the outlet.

"I know he is going to be a little young as we turn it on in the next few months, but I'm super pumped about it and I'm excited to take him to the hockey rink. Not so much to see him on skates, we've got a couple years for that."

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