Pregnant Teddi Mellencamp Is in a 'Different Place' with Third Baby on the Way: 'I'm So Excited'
Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave is going without a birth plan as she prepares to have her third child.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star announced she was pregnant in September, sharing later that month that the baby on the way would be a girl. She and her husband, security company CEO Edwin Arroyave, also share son Cruz, 5, and daughter Slate, 7.
“When it comes to having kids, you can make all the plans you want, but once the baby comes, you just figure out what’s best for you both,” Mellencamp Arroyave, who is partnering with interior design service Modsy for her new nursery and playroom, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
The soon-to-be mother of three and daughter of famed rocker John Mellencamp also says she’s “in such a different place” with her current pregnancy.
“With Slate, I got pregnant via [intrauterine] insemination and with Cruz, it was through [in vitro fertilization], and it was multiple failed rounds of IVF. With both kids, I was on and off bedrest,” shares Mellencamp Arroyave, 38. “There was a lot of stress.”
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In 2018, Mellencamp Arroyave revealed via social media that she likely would not have another child after the first two, making this pregnancy, which she conceived naturally, quite a surprise.
“This pregnancy, I didn’t even know I was pregnant till I was nine weeks pregnant. I’ve been able to be active the entire pregnancy,” she says. “It’s just been such a different experience.”
To prepare for her baby girl, Mellencamp Arroyave has designed a brand new nursery and playroom for her kids, sharing photos of the spaces exclusively with PEOPLE. She broke down the process of designing the rooms with Modsy, noting that she’s “so obsessed” with the service.
“You can go on and you fill out like a little style quiz,” she said. “So I submitted the pictures, I took the quiz and then they gave me two different options.”
She describes the baby’s new digs as clean, modern and “comfy,” admitting that though she “didn’t really know” what she wanted during the design process, there were some essentials.
“I knew, 100 percent, I needed a rocker, because obviously you spend a lot of time breastfeeding or just cuddling with the baby,” the Bravo star says, adding that she also got a lounger in the nursery for late nights. “There were some nights where I was like, ‘I can’t believe I have to walk back to my room right now,’ and now I have kind of a little bed in there.”
She said that while designing any home space can be stressful, Modsy changed her approach to it.
“It made it very simple for me,” Mellencamp Arroyave said of the design service. “I like things to look nice, but I don’t have a design eye, and I think that having this made it so simple but also feel unique.”
The room also features an art piece that reads “You are loved” — something Mellencamp Arroyave had for her two previous children and knew she wanted for the new baby.
She has learned that she doesn’t need “every single little thing” to be in the nursery, though. More important than gadgets, she tells PEOPLE, is feeling comfortable in the space.
“You just go in there and you feel relaxed and calm,” Mellencamp Arroyave says. “It just really set the tone for how I’m actually feeling and how I’m so excited and feeling ready for this baby to be here.”
“I can’t wait to bring her in there and for her to start her little life,” she shares.
