Reality star Jillian Harris pregnant

U.S. reality star Jillian Harris is pregnant with her first child.

The former The Bachelorette star announced her happy news in a blog post on Friday (04Mar16), when she revealed her boyfriend Justin Pasutto had helped to make her baby dreams come true.

"I have dreamed for years of being a mama... thought about how I would tell people... how I would feel... what kind of mom I would be...," the 36-year-old wrote. "And here we are... Justin and I couldn't be MORE STOKED to grow our little family!!"

The couple has been dating for four years and the mother-to-be admits she knew the 28-year-old former professional snowboarder would be the father of her children as soon as they met, but they only decided to start trying to conceive in December (15).

"We both decided that the year I turned 36 would be prime time... so, in late 2015, right before my 36 birthday, we 'practiced for baby,'" Jillian continued. "And got lucky, we found out 12 days BEFORE my 36th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!"

She previously searched for love on TV competition The Bachelor in 2009, when she tried and failed to win Jason Mesnick's heart. She returned as The Bachelorette later that year and became engaged to suitor Ed Swiderski, but they split in July, 2010 amid allegations of his infidelity.

Jillian isn't the only member of The Bachelor/Bachelorette family to celebrate baby news - DeAnna Pappas Stagliano and her husband Stephen Stagliano welcomed a second son on Tuesday (01Mar16). She appeared on the first season of The Bachelor in 2007.