Jade Roper Tolbert is opening up about her pregnancy — one she thought she’d never have.
On Sunday, the mom-to-be celebrated her ultimate girly-themed baby shower with friends and family at The Garland in North Hollywood, California, complete with lots of pink décor and equally sweet messages for her guests.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to cry,” an emotional Roper Tolbert, 30, said while giving a toast. “It means so much to me. I wish [my husband Tanner Tolbert] was here — he’s kind of halfway here.”
She continued, “This is really awesome. I really never thought I was going to get married someday, let alone have a child, so [it] is really special [that] you’re all here. Thank you so much!”
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Starting a family with Tolbert, 30, has been something the Bachelor in Paradise alum has been ready for from the get-go. But although being a mom is what she always wanted, Roper Tolbert had her concerns.
“My parents, when they got divorced, it was really hard on me,” she explains. “I closed myself off to even the idea of love. I didn’t want to get married because I didn’t want to put my kids through the stuff that I felt.”
“But meeting Tanner and everything coming together and feeling so right, and this feeling so right, I just feel so incredibly blessed,” Roper Tolbert adds.
Thrown to celebrate the couple’s daughter on the way, the fun-filled baby shower — produced by Leila Lewis and the Be Inspired PR team and designed by Gianna SanFilippo — was full of delicious surprises and mom-to-be games.
Guests – including fellow Bachelor Nation alums Carly Waddell, Becca Tilley, Ashley Iaconetti and Kristina Schulman – enjoyed a sit-down brunch and a custom “poptail” (champagne with an ice pop) bar, relaxing in a comfy lounge that included cable-knit poufs, red velvet chairs and an ivory settle by Archive Rentals.
The long-centered table where guests enjoyed a three-course brunch was accompanied by a mix of Ranunculus, peonies, dahlias, garden roses and trailing greens in shades of pinks, burgundy and pops of peachy corals from Bloominous, plus fun party details like cute stir sticks and cocktails napkins by For Your Party.
Roper Tolbert, who has been documenting her pregnancy on social media, made sure her family and friends could do the same. Partygoers were able to take tons of photos in front of a fun and girly backdrop by Jesi Haack Design and a “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” laser-cut sign by Delovely Details.
And with love comes presents! Roper Tolbert embraced a Little One Must Have’s Lounge, where she was gifted all the baby essentials from Medela, UPPAbaby, Solly Baby, Munchkin, Ergobaby Carrier and more.
“I feel like, being a new mom, there are so many things you don’t realize that you need,” she says. “So it was nice to have that taken care of for me.”
But ultimately, the spouses’ joy over welcoming their little one soon surpasses everything else.
“The thing I’m most excited about is the first time I actually get to put her on my chest when she’s born,” says Roper Tolbert. “I can’t wait for that moment.”
She adds, “It sounds weird, but I can’t wait to, during the delivery and labor, have my husband with me and experience that bond and have something that makes us feel like family!”
“Two days after my missed period, I took the test,” Roper Tolbert previously told PEOPLE of how she found out she was pregnant. “I just knew it. Tanner wanted to be there. He was like, ‘Don’t take it without me.’ “
She continued, “One morning we woke up and I took the test and we watched it on the counter and it turned from not pregnant to pregnant. I knew it, but it was like, ‘Holy cow, it’s happening.’ ”