Candiace Dillard Bassett Is ‘Mourning the Loss’ of Her Pregnancy Weight: ‘I Was Celebrating My Thickness’ (Exclusive)

Candiace Dillard Bassett is missing her pregnancy curves.

The former Real Housewives of Potomac star — who last month welcomed son Jett Maxwell Lee Bassett with her husband Chris Bassett — tells PEOPLE exclusively that she wishes she hadn't shed the baby weight quite so quickly.

"[I'm] pissed because I was celebrating my thickness. So I am, yes, very much mourning the loss of my 141 pounds," Candiace, 37, says, noting that she was "probably between 108 and 110 [lbs.]" before her pregnancy.

"But my last weigh-in [while pregnant], I was 141.1 pounds. And I was so proud of each and every pound," she says. "I was getting legs, hips and body. I was so happy to be thick. It was fun!"

Her husband also loved her pregnancy shape. "Oh my God, he was in hog heaven grabbing everything, grabbing all of the meat on my body," Candiace jokes.

While Chris and Candiace's sister Crystal have assured her that her "butt is still big," the former reality star is disappointed about some of the changes she is seeing in her body as she loses weight.

"My boobs went down and my stomach is almost gone completely," she tells PEOPLE. "But they say I still have a butt and my thighs are still big. So I hope that they stay, and I hope my butt stays. But yeah, I'm smaller."

Candiace — who announced her departure from RHOP back in March after six seasons on the show — tells PEOPLE she also misses being pregnant, despite initially thinking she would not enjoy the experience.

"I loved being pregnant, which is also a shock because I thought I was going to hate it. And I was so afraid of being sick and not accepting the changes in my body and just all of the unknown things that you read about," she explains.

"And it was literally the complete opposite," she continues. "I loved every bit of my pregnancy. It was the most amazing experience ever. I almost mourn the fact that I'm not pregnant anymore because I loved it so much."

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Since her son made his arrival on Oct. 3, Candiace has been adjusting to her new role as mom — with the help of her "mom village," which she described as "amazing" and "otherworldly."

"Two days ago, one of my pageant sisters had reached out and I didn't respond, and then she reached out again and was like, 'I'm going to keep checking on you until you respond.' And I ended up unloading on her, just all of my feelings and emotions and how it's such a roller coaster of emotions," she recalls of her friend's support. "And she was sharing her birth journeys with her two kids, and just the unsolicited advice that I didn't know I needed that comes from all of my mom friends."

Candiace says "the cherry on top of having a baby later" is that many of her friends have already experienced pregnancy and having babies, allowing her to tap their wisdom and expertise.

"They are just a wealth of knowledge and information and support because they have been there, they've done it, and it just feels — I feel cocooned," she explains. "I feel so safe because I have so many amazing moms around me that are just dumping wisdom on me."

One month after welcoming Jett, the former Bravo star shared the news of his birth exclusively with PEOPLE, saying she and her husband "couldn't be happier" to have their son in their lives.

"He is just the cutest little thing," she raved. "It's so cliché to say, but he's brought such joy to our lives in ways I never would have been able to describe before. It's pure love!"