Ali Fedotowsky is expecting her first child with her

There’s a baby on the way for this former Bachelorette!

Ali Fedotowsky is expecting her first child with her fiancé, Valentine In the Morning co-host Kevin Manno, her rep confirms to PEOPLE.

“We are thrilled, excited, nervous, and in awe that we are going to be parents! We feel incredibly fortunate to be lucky enough to welcome a little one into this world,” Fedotowsky, 31, tells

PEOPLE exclusively.

Fedotowsky confirmed the news on her blog, Ali Luvs, Wednesday, sharing their excitement and her and 32-year-old Manno’s decision to keep the news under wraps for awhile.

“I can’t believe the news is out. That’s right, we’re pregnant! It feels surreal to let everyone know, since this has been our little secret for a while now,” she writes.

RYAN MANNO

“I honestly started getting so nervous last night knowing that we were going to share the news today. Normally I am SO excited to share news with all of you and don’t get me wrong, we are very happy to share it, but something about this news felt SO personal that we almost felt like we were giving away a piece of ourselves by sharing it with everyone.”

The mom-to-be has already gotten several glimpses at her baby on the way — and can’t get enough.“This is going to sound crazy, but I finally feel like I discovered where babies come from! Ha! No really, I’m not even kidding. Obviously I understand that sex leads to babies, but I never fully understood the absolute MIRACLE that happens inside of a woman’s body,” she explains.“At every ultrasound I am in awe at how much our little one has grown. It blows my mind that I can gently push on my belly and wake him/her up. How is that possible? How did we create this life? It’s all so overwhelming and beautiful.”

The blog post also includes the couple’s pregnancy announcement photo, which shows Fedotowsky dressed in “mom jeans” as Manno watches her with an overwhelmed stare.

“Well we came up with the idea over Christmas. We were at Kevin’s parents house in Indiana, playing an SNL trivia game that his parents bought us. One of the trivia cards asked what the slogan was for the ‘Mom Jeans’ commercial onSNL. We both knew the answer was, ‘Cause I’m not a woman anymore, I’m a mom,’ and we both had a laugh,” she recalls.

“Then it clicked! Mom jeans would make a GREAT pregnancy announcement. So we went to Goodwill and bought a $3 pair of mom jeans and Kevin’s brother Ryan (Uncle Ryan!) took the photos! I have to admit that the mom jeans were REALLY comfortable. I told Kevin I might just have to start wearing them. Then he made the face you see the picture above. He isn’t nervous about the baby. He’s nervous about the Mom Jeans.”

The reality star announced her engagement to her TV and radio host beau — and debuted the gorgeous ring — in September.

Later that month, Fedotowsky told PEOPLE she and Manno were thinking of making the planning process quick so they could potentially tie the knot just a few months later.

“I always thought I wanted a destination wedding. But now that I’m actually planning, I don’t know,” she said.

The former reality star also discussed the couple’s desire to have children, and though she doesn’t want a big family, she’d like to have two kids so the first one “wasn’t an only child.”

As for the vibe of the couple’s nuptials, Fedotowsky confessed she is “so not traditional” and “would almost rather elope.”

In true non-traditional form, the star was thinking of going super-casual: “I definitely won’t have a ballgown dress,” she explained. “I plan on being either barefoot or wearing Converses on my wedding day. It’s one or the other. No heels.”

And as for Manno, he’s playing a part in the planning process.

“He just wants to do whatever makes me happy, but he wants to be involved with everything,” the bride-to-be said. “Neither one of us is traditional in the sense of, ‘Oh, the woman plans the wedding.’ It’s our day, we’re going to plan it together.”