InstagramKatie Lee has a new title: mom.
The 38-year-old Food Network star welcomed her first child, a baby girl, with her husband Ryan Biegel. She announced the happy news on Instagram Thursday, Sept. 3.
"Welcome, baby Iris Marion Biegel," the celebrity chef wrote. "9.2.20 Our hearts are so full."
In addition to sharing the name and birth date, Lee posted a picture of the newborn. The sweet snapshot showed the proud mom holding her baby close and smiling down at her.
Several of Lee's culinary pals congratulated her on the little one's arrival, too.
"OMG!!!!!" her The Kitchen co-host Geoffrey Zakarian wrote in the comments section. "How beautiful!!! You look so happy. What a special time. Wow!!!! Welcome little Iris."
Added The Pioneer Woman's Ree Drummond, "Sweet beautiful child. We have all been eagerly awaiting your arrival! Congratulations, mom and dad!"
Lee shared her pregnancy with her fans in February. "Eating for two," she had written on Instagram at the time while baring her baby bump.
The announcement came less than a year after Lee wrote about her fertility struggles in an Instagram post.
"I get multiple messages a day asking me if I'm pregnant or why I am not pregnant yet," she wrote in 2019. "I get comments saying I look like I've gained weight, so I must be pregnant. After one said that I looked 'thick in the waist' I finally responded that it's not ok to comment on a woman's body and you never know what someone is going through. There is so much pressure on women to look a certain way and while most mean well with baby questions, it can be hurtful. Many of you sent me messages sharing your personal stories of fertility issues. You helped me, so now I want to share my story with you."
She noted that when she and Biegel tied the knot in 2018, their "plan was to start a family right away."
"I couldn't wait to get pregnant!" she continued. "I naively thought it would be easy. I'm a healthy woman, I eat a balanced diet, exercise, I don't smoke. Ryan is the same. But reproductive health is an entirely different ballgame."
She then detailed her journey. "We were trying, I had to have surgery to correct a problem, got an infection, then I was so run down I got shingles," she added. "My doctor advised us to try IVF. We just finished the intense process only to get zero healthy embryos. Not only is IVF physically exhausting, the emotional toll is unparalleled. We were filled with hope and excitement only to be crushed."
Lee also noted "it is really hard to put on a happy face."
"Fertility issues are supposed to be private so many of us are silently in pain," she wrote. "I hesitated to share this but I feel comfort when I hear others' stories and I hope any of you in a similar situation know you are not alone. When people ask me when I'm getting pregnant, it hurts. It's just a reminder that I'm not. When they say I look like I've gained weight, I have. I can't exercise as much and the hormones have made me bloated. At church on Easter, the priest started his sermon with a story about a family struggling to have a baby and the happiness they are now experiencing that their prayers have been answered. He said it is a time of new beginnings. Tears streamed down my face."
Near the end of the post, she expressed her hopes for the future. "I know a family will happen for us, it is just going to be a different journey than we imagined," she concluded. "We will keep working towards it. Someday we will have our happy new beginning and I pray any of you experiencing the same will have yours too."