Opening up. 

As Bachelor Nation fans know, former Bachelor Ben Higgins married the love of his life, Jess Clarke Higgins, in November 2021.

Since then, the two have been traveling, moved in together, adopted a puppy named Waylon, and now are expecting their first child together.

The couple recently opened up on Ben’s “Almost Famous Podcast” to share more about their pregnancy journey, how they found out, and how they’re feeling about having a baby girl.

Ben and Jess started off the episode by sharing how their journey to getting pregnant wasn’t the easiest but that they feel lucky. 

Jess admitted, “We were referred to a fertility clinic by my doctor because I wasn’t ovulating regularly… We did IUI, which is the step before IVF… It took us one try of IUI, so when it comes to fertility journeys we got really, really lucky.”

The soon-to-be new parents also revealed how Jess told Ben she was pregnant and how they then shared the news with their families. 

“I woke up at 4 a.m. so excited because I just had this gut feeling that [the pregnancy test] was going to be positive,” Jess shared. “I took the test and just kind of stared at it for about two hours. And then I heard Ben moving upstairs and Waylon, our dog, was downstairs with me, so I tied a bandana around Waylon that said, ‘big brother’ and I sent him up to wake [Ben].” 

Ben and Jess talked about how they waited a little bit to tell others so they could soak the news in themselves, but around two weeks later, they decided to announce the big secret.

Jess explained that she and Ben live far away from her family, so they decided to get a little creative when sharing the news with them. 

She said, “We got [my dad] this picture frame and since I bought it I had the activation code. So I said, ‘You have to FaceTime me so I can teach you how to set it up.’ So everyone was together for Father’s Day brunch, they FaceTimed me and I gave him the activation code. And I was explaining how it worked and how you can upload a photo in real time. And I was like, ‘Here I’ll upload a photo and show you how it works.’ And I uploaded my positive pregnancy test. So my whole family was there, minus my little brother who we FaceTimed earlier that day and just told, but they were so excited and so surprised.”

Then they went on to explain how they told Ben’s family. 

“They came the day after Father’s Day,” Jess shared, “and we got [his dad] a Father’s Day card that said ‘The best dads get promoted to grandpa’ and we gave it to him in person. And he said, ‘Are you trying to tell me something?’” 

“And you said yes,” Ben chimed in laughing. 

The pair discussed their feelings on having a girl and Jess expressed how she thinks Ben is going to be the best girl dad. 

“I think you’re going to love her and encourage her and tell her she’s beautiful. And I know the way that you make me feel and I just can’t imagine the way you’re going to make our daughter feel. Just like so wrapped in love,” Jess shared. 

Ben chimed in and added, “I do feel like when it comes to, especially the emotions, I’m better set up for [being a girl dad]. I’m just worried that I’m going to become a mess. Like I’m gonna lose all toughness, and I don’t have a lot left. Like, I don’t think I have any left!” 

Jess reassured Ben and replied while laughing, “I think you have a lot of toughness left and I think that when she’s a teenager, you’ll get that grip back. But I think when she’s really little, I do think she’s going to have you wrapped around her finger in the best way.” 

So sweet!