Ashley has been vocal of wanting to have kids with her husband Michael since the show premiered on Bravo. During the third season reunion special of the hit reality series, Darby revealed that she had a miscarriage.
"It was such a traumatic experience," said Ashley of the loss. "At the time, I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of how it would affect us as a couple and as individuals because we kind of thought it would be a given that we would just be able to have children. But it was challenging."
Ashley reveals that the loss brought her and Michael closer. "It did take a toll, but it really did bond us on another level, thankfully," she revealed.
Ashley reveals that she wasn’t "actively or consciously trying" when she conceived. "It was a surprise,” she told PEOPLE. "We found out in the beginning of November and I had just been healing out of it and I thought I was getting sick because of the change of season. I wasn’t feeling too well. Something just told me to take the test, really not expecting a positive result. And then lo and behold, there were two solid lines."
Photo Credit: Michael Darby courtesy via PEOPLE
She continued: "I’m not the most emotional person, but I shed some tears," Ashley says. "And then Michael started crying. And Michael, who is a very stoic person, when he cries, I start balling. It was like a share of waterworks between the two of us!"
"It just was a blessing that was bestowed upon us," says Ashley. "And the way it happened was just a miracle."
With five months in, the Bravo reality star reveals that she and her husband are keeping the baby’s sex a mystery, even if that may change.
"We have the results in Michael’s desk drawer at work, but we might do a sex reveal, that’s still a toss up in the air," Ashley told the publication. "But for now, it’s just really hypothesizing if it’s going to be a boy or a girl based on the heartbeat, the shape of the belly, the condition of my skin — all those things that are supposed to be predictors of the baby’s sex."
She reveals that the two are also “going back and forth with names.”
"With an Australian man who tends to lean more towards the English side with his name choices, it’s very interesting,” Ashley jokes of her husband Michael. "He wants it to be a Phillip or an Elizabeth or something very regal. It needs a little bit of culture in there!"
For now, Darby admits that the pregnancy has been smooth sailing, and that she's been craving mostly fruits and McDonald's french fries.
Darby also released a statement to Bravo's The Daily Dish about her pregnancy. "I've always wondered what this would feel like - carrying a being inside of my body - but actually being pregnant is more incredible than I could have imagined,” said Ashley. “Through all of our past heartbreak, this is the most incredible gift we could ever receive."
The first look at her baby bump is seen in a video that she shared via her Instagram page. The clip features Ashley and Michael looking into each other's eyes, and kissing before revealing her baby bump. Ashley and Michael's baby is due in July 2019.
Photo Credit: Bravo
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