“DWTS”' Hayley Erbert says her heart is 'breaking into a million pieces' after having first baby with Derek Hough
“DWTS”' Hayley Erbert says her heart is 'breaking into a million pieces' after having first baby with Derek Hough
Wesley StenzelSat, April 11, 2026 at 9:30 PM UTC
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Derek Hough, Hayley Erbert, and their baby daughter, EverleyCredit: Hayley Erbert/Instagram
Hayley Erbert Hough is reflecting on the power of motherhood.
In an emotional message this week, the Dancing With the Stars alum directly addressed her baby daughter, Everley, whom she welcomed with her husband, DWTS judge Derek Hough, in December.
"My love. My girl. My world," she began her moving Instagram post. "Motherhood is even more complex and contradicting than I could have ever imagined. It feels like living in two places at once. Where joy and heartache can both be true, all of the time."
Erbert Hough continued, "My heart is constantly bursting open, while also breaking into a million pieces."
Hayley Erbert Hough in Los Angeles in 2025Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
The dancer went on to explain how bittersweet it feels to witness her daughter grow up. "I find myself celebrating every little bit of your growth, while quietly grieving the version of you that existed just moments before," she wrote. "So excited for all the 'firsts' and the life ahead of you/us, yet wishing I could freeze time and never have any 'lasts.'"
Erbert Hough called her feelings "the most beautiful contradiction," describing them as "this pull between holding on and letting go, between wanting time to slow down and knowing it never will."
The DWTS alum ended her remarks with resolve to embrace the beauty and pain of parenthood.
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"If this is the dichotomy of motherhood, then I'll try my best to meet it with open arms," she wrote. "Soaking in every little detail, every version of you, every fleeting moment we have together. I love being your mom. I love you beyond, Everley. I have truly never felt a love like this."
The couple expressed similar sentiments in an interview with PEOPLE two weeks after Everley's arrival. "Already so many different changes happening. She's changing every day," Hough said. "It goes by so fast, and it's only going to continue to get faster and faster, but even for us, we've experienced that already."
Hayley Erbert Hough with her daughter, EverleyCredit: Hayley Erbert/Instagram
Even two weeks into motherhood, Erbert Hough couldn't believe how quickly time was moving. "I already find myself grieving this current stage and I'm like, 'Ugh, I'm gonna miss it so much,'" she said. "I'm so sad that I'm never gonna have that part of her ever again. That phase. It actually breaks my heart. I'm also postpartum, hormonal, crazy emotional."
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Erbert Hough welcomed her first child with Hough just two years after a life-threatening health scare. In December 2023, the dancer underwent an emergency craniectomy after being diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel.
Hough praised his wife's abilities as a parent in their recent interview with PEOPLE. "Hayley was meant for this," he said. "She is such a good mom. She is such a natural mother, and to see that, to watch it, for me, there's so many times where I'm just quietly looking at her and tearing up."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
