Hilary Rhoda and Sean Avery have a rainbow baby on the way! The model is pregnant with the couple’s first child following multiple miscarriages.
“It’s a boy,” the Maryland native, 32, captioned a Wednesday, January 22, Instagram photo of herself cradling her baby bump by a fire. “@imseanavery and I are having a baby and we’re so excited about this next chapter of life together.”
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model went on to write on her Instagram Story: “We’re having a baby! The last year has been quite a journey getting to this point, lots of ups & downs. But for those trying to conceive, all I can say is just keep going. I really hate the word ‘journey’ (I blame The Bachelor) but it really felt appropriate in this context ha. … Trying to conceive is a mindf–k and might have almost ended our marriage once or twice.”
Avery, 39, elaborated on their attempts to conceive on his “No F–ks Given” podcast. “Going into the process, we’ve got two healthy partners and right out the gate, the first month that we were eligible to procreate, Hilary got pregnant,” the former professional ice hockey player said on Wednesday. “I said, ‘That’s f–king great. That was easy. I start planning.”
When Rhoda suffered a pregnancy loss, she and the athlete “got back on the trail.” He explained, “Two months later, Hilary gets pregnant again and has another miscarriage. After a few miscarriages, the pressure starts mounting and fertility doctors say, ‘You have this window. Maximize that window, a 4 to 5 day window with no rest.”
The couple, who wed in October 2015, had a “tough” time trying for six months. “A few times, we were fighting and we don’t fight,” Avery said.
After he returned home from a film role that had him in Los Angeles for five weeks, the Ice Capades author and Rhoda were able to get pregnant. “It was no longer a job. I haven’t seen my wife in five weeks. So we’re going to make love and what do you know? I stood up and kissed my wife on her beautiful forehead and said, ‘My love, you’re pregnant. I guarantee you’re pregnant.’ We went through a difficult 6 months. I come back and we have real true passion and love and harmony. The moment we took the noise, science and methods out of it — that’s how you make a baby in tough times.”
The pair got engaged in 2013 after dating on and off for three years.