Michelle Kwan Gave Birth To Her 1st Baby & We're Obsessed With Her Name

In an emotional Instagram post, two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan shared the news that she had welcomed her first baby. The 41-year-old figure skater had not announced that she was pregnant in the first place, explaining that she preferred “to keep my personal life private.” Now that her baby has arrived, however, she has decided to give her followers a little peek at her private life as a new mom.

“I’m overjoyed and tears of happiness are streaming down my face as I share the news of the arrival of Kalista Belle Kwan,” Kwan wrote in her post on Wednesday. “’ve always wanted to be a mom and, to me, she’s a perfect miracle. I had a hard time picturing what she might look like yet it seems like she’s been in my life forever. This has been a challenging journey to motherhood (not to mention a very long labor!!!) and I’m glad I never gave up.”

The proud mom, who did not name the baby’s father but gave a shout-out to her “love,” shared a photo of baby Kalista along with a video montage of her baby bump growing over the past nine months. And her smile in those photos says it all. She couldn’t be happier to be a mom.

Kwan, who has been divorced from ex-husband Coast Guard Lieutenant Clay Pell since 2017, went on to explain in her post, “As people closest to me know, I’m always full of surprises and tend to keep my personal life private. And, I’ve wanted to share this happy news for many months but each milestone seemed to be exciting and daunting at the same time. Each step of the way, I knew that there was still more time needed until I could hold her in my arms.”

In 2018, Kwan opened up to People about finding other passions beyond figure skating, “I always say figure skating is a fantastic, amazing chapter of my life,” Kwan said at the time. “But there are many more chapters and things to discover and things to learn.”

Now it looks as though she’s ready for a new passion: motherhood.

The excited mom went on to send her best wishes out to other moms who might be trying to conceive “in any which way,” and her followers sent a whole lot of love back to the new mom. “Im thrilled for you Michelle, she’s beautiful. Embrace every second of your new incredible journey, it goes by fast,” wrote one social media user, while fellow mom Alyssa Milano added, “Now the fun begins! Text me if you need anything.”

Michelle Kwan has lived an enormous, exciting life as an Olympic figure skater. And now, it’s time for a whole new chapter with baby Kalista.