Astrid Loch and Kevin Wendt are officially parents!
The Bachelor in Paradise stars welcomed their first child together on Nov. 20. "November 20th 2:02am @astridloch made my dreams come true," Wendt wrote in an Instagram post alongside a photo of him holding the newborn. "She is my absolute hero for everything she went through the last 2 days in the hospital, and the last 2 years doing everything it took to get this perfect munchkin into the @thewendtgang. I never thought a love like this existed. #ivfbaby #ivf."
The new mom also called their little one "my whole world" and posted a sweet snapshot of their baby. "Born 11/20/2021 & finally home with the rest of the @thewendtgang," she added. "Sorry to keep you all waiting, just had to soak this moment up for ourselves first. #babywendt #ivf #ivfbaby #infertility."
The couple did not reveal the name or the sex of the child.
Loch, 31, and Wendt, 37, first shared news of the pregnancy on Mother's Day in May. At the time, the couple posted a photo of the sonogram to their respective Instagram pages, sharing with fans that were expecting after a long IVF journey.
"A dream come true," Loch wrote in her caption. "One of the first conversations @kevin.c.wendt and I had was about how we both loved kids and couldn't wait to have our own. When I think about Kev holding our little angel for the first time my heart flutters. Even in my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined how amazing this would all feel."
The reality star went on to share that she and Wendt had "struggled with fertility and conceiving naturally," calling it "the toughest thing we've ever been through."
"To all the couples trying to get pregnant, my heart is with you. We know first hand how hard it can be to see these kinds of posts and feel sad & discouraged," Loch wrote. "But today is finally about some good news & we hope you can enjoy it with us."
In an Instagram post of his own, Wendt described their journey to parenthood as a "long and tough road."
"Happy 1st Mother's Day to my queen," he wrote in a sweet tribute to Loch. "Thank you @astridloch for giving me the one thing I've wanted most in my life."
Loch and Wendt first met on the fifth season of Bachelor in Paradise in 2018. Though the pair split on the show, they rekindled their romance shortly after their season ended and announced their engagement in August 2019.
The two initially wanted to get married in 2020, but their wedding plans were postponed due to the pandemic. As a result, they turned their attention to starting a family—something Wendt told People in May that they had "spent a year of trying" before seeking other options to get pregnant.
"We actually did IUIs [intrauterine insemination] before doing IVF [in vitro fertilization]. We did two cycles with that," Loch explained to the publication. "IVF is just so much more intrusive, so we were trying to go that route at first and then during our second cycle, we actually ended up having an ectopic pregnancy. … I ended up having to take medication to terminate the ectopic pregnancy, and then it pushed our whole thing back another two-and-a-half months."
Wendt added, "We spent a lot of nights in tears because we just didn't understand why it wasn't working for us. Growing up, you're always taught to not get pregnant and it always seems so easy on TV to get pregnant. Then you actually try and it's actually really tricky."