Jason Merritt/Getty Images for PlayboyGretchen Rossi's dream of becoming a mother is finally coming true.
Hours ago, the Real Housewives of Orange County star announced she is expecting her first child with longtime love Slade Smiley. Recalling the "emotional journey" she and Slade took to expand their family, Gretchen said during Monday's episode of The Doctors that the wonderful pregnancy news "still doesn't feel real."
The couple, who began dating almost a decade ago, first pursued in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 2013. It came to a disappointing halt when just hours before Gretchen was scheduled to undergo an embryo transfer, their doctor called to say that all 14 embryos were lost.
"This is beyond anything I had ever expected to experience. It literally took a good year and a half for us to even get to a point where I was willing to talk about it again," the former Bravo star explained on The Doctors.
Then in 2016, Slade (who has two sons from a previous relationship) underwent a vasectomy reversal, which ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Gretchen went on to do two more rounds of IVF, and in November she learned of her pregnancy. So how is the future mama adjusting to life with a baby on board? The bizarre food cravings are in full swing, as she tells E! News exclusively, "I knew I had hit the food aversion stage when everything smelled disgusting to me and I no longer was craving sweets. Instead I wanted a giant pickle and a hamburger at 3 o'clock in the morning."
Of course, 41-year-old Gretchen isn't alone in her quest to become a mom later in life. Keep scrolling for even more pregnant celebrities over 40!
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The 41-year-old Real Housewives of Orange County alum and partner Slade Smiley announced they were expecting their first child together after years of infertility struggles.
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The actress had two children in her 40s: One in 1989 when she was 43 and another in 1992 when she was 46.
Congratulations to Gretchen and Slade!