RHOM's Julia Lemigova Is 'Sleep-Deprived but So Happy' After Welcoming Sons with Wife Martina Navratilova tram

Julia Lemigova is loving life as a new mom of four.

On Saturday, Nov. 23, the Real Housewives of Miami star, 52, opened up to PEOPLE about her two sons, whom she welcomed through adoption with wife Martina Navratilova, 67.

"I'm sleep-deprived but so happy," Lemigova tells PEOPLE at Bravo Fan Fest 2024 in Miami. "It's becoming a reality because it's only been three months, but it's been a very intense, loving, incredible, three months." 

She says adding little ones to the mix has changed a thing in her marriage with the tennis star. "When we got married, [Navratilova] promised me, one of her vows was she would get off social media a little bit because she's constantly on Twitter [now X] and that it took her how many years of marriage to actually be less on social media because of the boys because now she has no time," says Lemigova.

But she assures, Navratilova "loves it."

"She's making pancakes in the morning, taking them to school," Lemigova says. "She's so energized. When we first got them, we thought we are saving them, but in reality, we're both saving each other. And seeing them, like waking up in the morning with their little faces and what joy it brought into our life. It's like [being] a new mother again all of a sudden after being an empty nester."

Lemigova, who also has two daughters from two previous relationships, welcomed her sons with Navratilova after nearly 10 years of marriage, a rep for the couple confirmed to PEOPLE in August.

"We are over the moon recognizing the challenges and the rewards for everybody," Navratilova shared in a statement with PEOPLE.

The pair made Real Housewives history in 2021 as the first same-sex couple to appear on the franchise. At the time, Lemigova told NBC News that she was “overwhelm[ed]” with the support she and Navratilova received after she was cast on the Bravo show.

During season 5 of RHOM, Lemigova shared that she wanted to adopt a child with Navratilova since her adult daughters, Victoria and Emma, had moved out. Their plans for adoption were halted when Navratilova was diagnosed with stage 1 throat cancer and breast cancer. During the RHOM season 5 reunion, Lemigova told host Andy Cohen that it wasn’t the right time for their family to adopt a baby.

“When you’re adopting a child, it has to be about the child. And, right now, it’s everything about Martina, and for her getting healthy. So, we’re putting it on hold,” Lemigova said. “You know, we were thinking any moment, the agency would call and give us happy news that we’re going to have a baby ... instead we are fighting two cancers.”

Navratilova announced that she was cancer-free in June 2023 and Lemigova told Page Six in December that they weren’t “closing the door" on their adoption plans quite yet.

Now, they're navigating their new normal as a family of six. Lemigova tells PEOPLE at Bravo Fan Fest that since the adoption happened "so fast," her eldest children are going through some "growing pains."

"Even we were not prepared for it. We literally got a phone call and jumped on the plane and got to the destination to pick them up. But I cannot wait for us to be together," she says of her daughters who live outside of Miami. "We are a strong family. I'm hoping one day we will be like six of us for a long time in Miami instead of like just a short period of time for holidays. Trying to move them back to Miami."