There’s a new, confirmed baby in the Royal Family! Okay, tangentially. Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are getting a cousin.
Remember over a month ago when we told you that Duchess Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton, is almost definitely pregnant?
You can take out the almost. She is pregnant.
34-year-old Pippa Middleton is expecting her first child.
The baby daddy is of course her husband, James Matthews.
The source for this happy news is pretty darn reliable — because it’s Pippa herself.
Announcing what she wrote in a column for Waitrose magazine, Pippa has even more good news.
Her sister Kate’s pregnancies are notoriously difficult. She suffers from Hyperemesis Gravidarum and the results are not fun.
That was how we were able to predict that she was pregnant weeks before the official announcement.
Pippa, it seems, is having an easier time.
The happily expecting mother writes:
“I was lucky to pass the 12 week scan without suffering from morning sickness.”
When the news broke on the back end of April that Pippa was telling her close friends, it was reported that this was after the 12 week scan had revealed that everything looked healthy.
“That meant I was able to carry on as normal.”
Well … mostly. She did set about making one significant change to her lifestyle.
“When I learned the happy news that I was pregnant I realized I needed to adjust my 4 to 5-day-a-week routine.”
That’s great! We only wish that everyone were in a position to take it easy when they need to concentrate on a pregnancy — or on their health for any reason.
Though Pippa has been confiding the news to those close to her since April, she waited until a week into June to make it public knowledge.
Why? She doesn’t say. But we can guess.
First of all, it is always wise to wait until one is further along before sharing the news. Even a few weeks — or, in this case, more than a month — can give you more time to be sure that your pregnancy is still healthy.
Second of all, Pippa couldn’t have wanted to overshadow her own sister’s pregnancy and childbirth.
Kate gave birth to her third child, baby Louis, back in April — exactly around the time that Pippa began confiding in loved ones.
The following days were full of new revelations and even photos. Pippa wouldn’t want to upstage her sister.
Also, obviously, Pippa couldn’t want to distract from her sister’s brother-in-law, Prince Harry, as he tied the knot with Meghan Markle.
When there are major royal events underway, you want to put some distance between them and anything else.
And … while we’re on the subject of putting some distance between different pieces of news as they break …
Pippa may have had another, more upsetting reason for postponing the announcement.
Pippa’s father-in-law was arrested for raping a minor. This was weeks before reports of her pregnancy began circulating.
This has to be a hard time for her and a harder time her her husband.
We can absolutely understand why they might balk at sharing that news in the same month that her father-in-law was arrested.
But all of these other events, both happy and grim, aside: this is great news!
Pippa and James are going to welcome their first child, and they’re not even pretending that it’s a secret anymore.
That must be a real weight off of their shoulders.
Now, they just need to concentrate on a healthy remainder of the pregnancy and a healthy delivery.
Since the 12 week check-up was reportedly in the back half of April, we can guess that she might be 18 to 20 weeks along. But that is absolutely just an estimation.
If it’s correct, then she’s about halfway through.
Congratulations to Pippa and James!