Looking back! Nearly one year after Ariela Weinberg gave birth to her first child, the 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way star is exclusively introducing her baby boy to Us Weekly.
“Our little Avi is doing great. He is the happiest kid I have ever met,” Weinberg tells Us. “This year has been the craziest year of my life and it is out there for all the world to see. Honestly, our story is just going to get even crazier. Since Avi was born there have been no dull moments. You will see how we navigate being parents, and how our relationship grows over time.”
The New Jersey native, 28, and Biniyam Shibre welcomed the little one on December 17 ahead of his due date after Weinberg experienced complications. The couple’s experience is documented on the Sunday, October 18, episode of the TLC show.
The pair met and fell in love in 2019 when Weinberg went on a soul-searching trip around the world in 2019, staying in Ethiopia for two months. When the freelance writer found out that she was pregnant, she decided to move to Ethiopia so that Shibre, 29, could be present for their baby’s birth.
The then-pregnant star was rushed into surgery in December 2019 after a routine ultrasound appointment because her baby-to-be was breech. The little one’s movements had decreased due to low levels of amniotic fluid.
“I am not ready at all,” Shibre said in an episode of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way earlier this month ahead of the emergency C-section. “Me and Ari are not ready at all.”
Weinberg chimed in, “I’ve never been more scared in my life. I wish more than anything in the world that my mom was here.” (Her parents were scheduled to fly in the following week to be there for their grandson’s arrival.)
“I’m about to have major abdominal surgery in a place that’s very underdeveloped,” she added. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Nobody was really telling me anything,” Weinberg told Us of her frightening experience. “Usually when no one tells you anything it is because things are very dire. I was most concerned that the baby wasn’t moving and my fear was that he was going to die. We were both very nervous, so it was comforting to know that Biniyam was there with me. Having him there was the reason I moved to Ethiopia. I knew that if anything happened that at least we’d go through it together. And the fact that he was so nervous showed me that I wasn’t alone.”
Looking back now, the new mom says she doesn’t regret her decision “at all” to have her baby in Ethiopia.
“Kadisco Hospital was great and I highly recommend it to any expats or others looking to deliver in Ethiopia. They saved Avi’s life. I will forever be grateful to them,” she told Us. “It was all worth it when I got to see Daddy and Baby together for the first time. The only thing I regret is that my parents were not able to attend the birth.”
The reality star was previously married to for 10 years to first husband Leandro. The exes finalized their divorced in 2018. As for Shibre, the Ethiopia native shares a son named Simon with his ex-wife, Bria.
“I pray that Avi will know his brother,” Weinberg told Us. “Whatever happened between the parents, the children should know each other. I have imagined it many times. It will be a beautiful day when they meet and play together.”
Keep scrolling to see sweet shots of the TLC personality with her baby boy.
With reporting by Sharon Tharp