We found out during the most recent My 600 Lb Life Brandi Dreier episode that the Washington native was pregnant with her first child. Since that update aired, Brandi has indeed given birth — and she’s shared the first photos of her child with the world! It’s been an unbelievable few years for Brandi and her sister Kandi, whose weight loss success also appears to continue unabated.
The first My 600 Lb Life Brandi Dreier episode was a harrowing one
The twins weighed approximately 600 pounds each when TLC’s cameras began filming their weight loss journey in 2016. The twins revealed that their traumatic childhood — an alcoholic mother and a drug-dealing father, one of whose friends molested the girls — led Brandi and Kandi to turn to food for comfort.
But even that comfort was tainted by trauma. Brandi recalled that her and Kandi’s father sometimes poured a box of cereal out on the kitchen table when the twins would cry, just to avoid parenting them.
With Dr. Nowzaradan’s help, Brandi and Kandi began losing weight steadily, and were on track for weight loss surgery. However, Kandi’s abnormal EKG meant Brandi was able to have her surgery eight months earlier than her sister.
Then, when Kandi did undergo the procedure, a pulmonary embolism stopped her heart on the operating table. She survived the resulting cardiac arrest, but had to be put into a coma for a full week, during which time Brandi was “terrified” she had lost her sister to brain damage. Fortunately, Kandi recovered right away.
My 600 Lb Life Brandi Dreier and Kandi are still finding weight loss success
The twins’ Where Are They Now? follow-up continued to track their hard work and good fortune: a combination of diet and exercise saw Brandi and Kandi lose over 250 pounds each. Naturally, their goals shifted as well. Instead of just weight loss, both women began working toward approval for weight loss surgery.
Most importantly, their attitude toward food itself changed. As Brandi and Kandi explained for People shortly after their episodes aired, they were no longer addicted to food — which made everything else in life much simpler.
“Food doesn’t rule our lives anymore,” Brandi said. “Sometimes I forget to eat because the hunger isn’t there….We’ve been trying to go through this process for a long time, and [My 600 Lb Life] just happened at the right time. I was terrified of going on camera, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so we took it.”
Brandi is now a proud mama — and Kandi an overjoyed aunt
Brandi and Kandi’s Where Are They Now? episode, complete with Brandi’s pregnancy reveal, aired last May. Her due date wasn’t mentioned in the episode, but, according to an online registry, she was due on June 19th.
Neither Brandi nor Kandi made a formal announcement of their motherhood / aunthood on social media. In fact, neither sister has revealed Brandi’s baby’s name or gender. But one thing they *have* shared is a few adorable baby photos! Here’s one of the first to be made public — a quiet pic of Brandi and baby from September:
Brandi and her baby’s father also shared this family photo a few days later:
Finally, here’s a super cute mid-autumn shot of Aunt Kandi and her little niece:
Congratulations to Brandi and Kandi on their continued weight loss success — and on the little bundle of joy in their lives 🙂 If you need to catch up on their story, you can stream the twins’ Where Are They Now? follow-up here, via TLC.
(Photo credits: My 600 Lb Life Brandi Dreier via TLC, Facebook)
John Sharp is a Starcasm’s chief editorial correspondent-at-large. Tips: E-mail john@starcasm.net or Twitter @john_starcasm.
