Donatella Arpaia‘s 6½-year-old son Alessandro may have been right in predicting his future siblings’ sexes — though perhaps not their names.
After many failed rounds of in vitro fertilization, the Food Network star, 46, who is expecting twins with husband Allan Stewart in the fall, was inspired to give it one more try because of a dream her son had.
“He said, ‘God told me that you’re going to have two babies,’ ” recalls Stewart, 49, in an interview for this week’s issue of PEOPLE. ” ‘They’re going to be a boy and a girl, and their names are going to be Noah and Emma.’ ”
Though genetic testing initially indicated the twins were both boys, a follow-up revealed there had been a mix-up and that Alessandro had been correct after all.
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“I would never have tried if he didn’t wake up in the middle of the night and tell me that,” explains Arpaia who, aside from her duties as a judge on Iron Chef America, runs Prova Pizzabar in New York City.
“And he was very specific. I would test him the next day: ‘Where did you hear that name? Was it a story or in school?’ ” she adds. “I wanted to see, because we don’t know any Emma or Noahs. He was like, ‘I told you, I spoke to God. Why are you questioning me?’ ”
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Stewart is convinced they should trust their son and name the babies Emma and Noah, but Arpaia isn’t 100 percent on board. “They’re not terrible names. It’s not like it’s gonna be Herbert and Ethel. They’re cute names,” she tells PEOPLE. “But I want Valentina and Marco.”
However, she says, Alessandro is firm in his premonition. She emphasizes, “He’s like, ‘Nope, it’s Emma and Noah.’ ”
For more on Donatella Arpaia and to get her grilled garlic-and-herb skirt-steak recipe, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.
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