Welcome to parenthood! Gretchen Rossi is expecting a bundle of joy with longtime partner, Slade Smiley, and the Real Housewives of Orange County alum opened up about her thoughts on becoming a first-time mother while chatting with Life & Style exclusively. Gretchen is over the moon about her pregnancy, but she’s also understandably got a little bit of anxiety.

“Although we are beyond excited about our little Christmas Miracle, we also know we are going to have a lot of sleepless nights coming up and this is going to be a huge change for us,” the pregnant reality star, 41, told Life & Style exclusively. “So we have a little anxiety about it, but we know together we can get through it because we have been unbreakable through everything thus far.” Gretchen and Slade’s great news comes four years after they started the IVF process.

Gretchen-Rossia-and-Slade-Smiley-baby
GP/Star Max/GC Images

“It’s pretty exciting that we have our little Christmas miracle,” Gretchen told People, after announcing that she was expecting baby No. 1 on The Doctors. “It’s been a little bit harder than I definitely anticipated,” the Bravo alum shared about her struggles during the first trimester. “I think they lie to you when they tell you [that] you’re gonna get morning sickness. They lie to you — it’s all day sickness! But the good news is that my doctor told me that’s actually a good sign.”

Just one week ago, Gretchen took to Instagram with a behind the scenes clip. “Many of you have been asking for an update on our IVF journey and today we are sharing an update about regarding our embryo transfer via the TV Show @thedoctorstv,” she captioned the video tagged at Southern California Reproductive Center, before their big reveal on the show. The engaged couple, who have been together for almost 10 years, will welcome their daughter or son in July 2019!