Kylie Jenner's Top-Secret Pregnancy: Inside Her Journey Leading Up to the Birth of Her Baby

No Kardashian family endeavor has been carried off with more stealth than the 20-year-old's pregnancy journey

By Natalie Finn Feb 04, 2018 10:00 PMTags

Kylie Jenner is a mom!

The 20-year-old's first child with Travis Scott has been born and mother and baby are doing well.

And so with that, the quietest endeavor the Kardashian family has ever undertaken has been successfully completed.

You've heard of taking the high road, or sometimes the low road? Well, Kylie opted to take the invisible road.

In most uncharacteristic fashion for a celebrity who has mastered the art of Instagram, brought fans into her home via Snapchat, and who spent her adolescence in the near-constant company of cameras, Kylie Jenner never said one public word about her pregnancy. Nor did she take endless bump-displaying selfies—or any bump pics at all—for public consumption amid what amounted to a Kardashian baby boom. She didn't even make an appearance in the family Christmas card in December! (Though she didn't miss the family Christmas party, and even posed for carefully cropped pics with Khloe Kardashian, who had only confirmed her own pregnancy just days beforehand.)

 

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Kylie Jenner's Quotes on Motherhood

As it turned out (and no one should be surprised), Kylie was chronicling her journey—including doctor visits with Scott by her side—and an 11 1/2-minute video of the highlights was released shortly after E! reported the birth news.

But she had her reasons for not personally sharing anything before her baby arrived.

"I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark through all the assumptions," Kylie posted on Instagram Sunday. "I understand you're used to me bringing you along on all my journeys. My pregnancy was one I chose not to do in front of the world. I knew for myself I needed to prepare for this role of a lifetime in the most positive, stress free, and healthy way I knew how. There was no gotcha moment, no big paid reveal I had planned. I knew my baby would feel every stress and every emotion so I chose to do it this way for my little life and our happiness.

"Pregnancy has been the most beautiful, empowering, and life-changing experience I've had in my entire life and I'm actually going to miss it," she continued. "I appreciate my friends and especially my family for helping me make this special moment as private as we could. My beautiful and healthy baby girl arrived February 1st and I just couldn't wait to share this blessing. I've never felt love and happiness like this I could burst! Thank you for understanding."

But it's not as if Kylie and Travis didn't tell anybody.

Bob Levey/Getty Images

About 30 friends and family members gathered for an elegant, intimate baby shower at Kylie's house in November: waffle bar, pink roses everywhere, silk pajamas provided for the guests.

"Each guest signed in and left a note for Kylie," an eyewitness told E! News at the time. "People gave toasts and talked about what a great mom she will be during brunch." The mommy-to-be was "sitting front and center listening as people spoke. She got gifts from Babies 'R Us, some large gift baskets with books and clothes wrapped in cellophane, and a lot of diapers."

But unlike every other milestone party in Kylie's life, like her Sweet 16 soiree and the 18th-birthday bash that she drove away from in a brand-new Ferrari, there was no photographic evidence of this one to be found online, or on any app. The camera phones were flying, as seen in today's retrospective, but everyone in attendance agreed to keep the visuals to themselves at the time.

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Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott: Romance Rewind

Meanwhile, Kylie didn't exactly go into hiding—though her lower torso has stayed hidden for the last five months, via photo crop, puffy coat, oversized shirt, etc.—but she's mainly stayed behind the lens, and most of her social media posts have been throwbacks or to promote Kylie Cosmetics.

She did open her doors once again to share the 20-foot Christmas tree, immaculately tricked out by Four Seasons artistic director Jeff Leatham, that took over her foyer this holiday season—thereby immediately prompting speculation that the rosy pink ornaments meant she was having a girl. Between that and the flowers...

So, if she was at all trying to avoid even more such articles written about the symbols and clues possibly hidden in her pictures, perhaps that's why she cut the personal photos down to a minimum. (And painted her fingernails a nice, neutral green.)

But while she never confirmed the news herself, once reports of her pregnancy first reared their heads in September, so began her retreat from the public eye.

Kylie hosted Thanksgiving dinner at her Calabasas home, showing off her table but not much else, and then the next day she had pal Jordyn Woods give her a trim with kitchen shears—freshening up with a shoulder-length bob practically a given expectant-mom move. (And not venturing out to a salon in favor of an at-home makeover is a classic clandestine move.)

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But as recently as yesterday, mum was the word from every member of the family, as well as from the dad-to-be himself.

"I don't want to talk about that. They're just guesses. Let them keep fishing," Scott, 25, told Billboard last month, toeing the party line of ask-me-no-questions-and-I'll-tell-you-no-lies.

Seriously, though, no one could get any details out of the family—not James Corden and his sardine smoothies or Ellen DeGeneres and all her trickery, which she tried on all of Kylie's sisters and now grandmother of eight Kris Jenner.

"Oh, I can feel where this is going," the family matriarch laughed at Ellen's valiant effort in November. "She's trying to trick me into confirming pregnancies."

Kris has been plenty busy in the meantime helping Kylie get everything ready, including what must be an immaculately decorated nursery.

Her family is "ready to meet the baby," a source told E! News about a week ago. "Kylie is nervous about giving birth," but the experienced moms in her family are "helping calm her fears and letting her know what to expect."

Overall, the insider added, Kylie is "so excited to finally be a mom and have the baby in her arms."