Gretchen Rossi Reflects on Her Pregnancy Journey: "It’s Been Four Years of Heartache for Us"

If you know anything about Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley, you know that they've wanted to start a family for quite some time — four years, to be exact. That's when The Real Housewives of Orange County couple began the long and difficult process of undergoing IVF. So we could only imagine how elated Gretchen and Slade must have felt when they finally got the news that they would indeed be welcoming a little one, news which the couple announced in December.

Well, we don't have to imagine any longer. Gretchen recently shared footage of the emotional moment she and Slade first found out they were pregnant, which she called "our most memorable moment of 2018" on Instagram. The series of videos featured in the post published on December 31 show Gretchen and Slade both bursting into tears of joy when they receive the happy news.

This is the rawest we've ever seen Gretchen and Slade before. "I have never felt more happiness and joy in my entire life. I’m so excited to finally get to share these very special and intimate videos of Slades and my journey these past few months as we went down the road of IVF & Implantation," Gretchen shared in the post, which also features videos of her prepping for the implantation and the actual day of the procedure. "I tried to vlog as often as possible so we had these videos to hopefully show our baby one day how very much they were wanted and how much their Mom [and] Dad fought for them. This last year was one of the most arduous years going through another two rounds of IVF (started our Journey on [January 5]) but these first two videos make all the pain, the tears, the worry, the anxiety worth it!"

Gretchen went on to say that 2018 was "a year we will never forget and a year of miracles for us" because she and Slade didn't know if their baby "would ever come to fruition." She also called 2018 "one of the best years" of her life, and she is "sooo looking forward to 2019!"

Gretchen concluded the post by sharing an inspirational message for others struggling to get pregnant. "Remember if you are going through this don’t give up! It’s been four years of heartache for us but we kept on pushing...so you got this!" she wrote. "Sending you all baby dust & love!"

The RHOC mom-to-be opened up about the not-so-fun parts of having a baby in another recent post on Instagram, sharing that she has "been so sick [and] exhausted" during the first trimester of her pregnancy. Gretchen is now 12 weeks pregnant, and she and Slade are expected to welcome their baby in just six months in July.

See more of Gretchen and Slade through the years, below.