Kristen Doute and Luke Broderick just shared pictures of their one-week-old daughter, Kaia Lily. Kaia’s official introduction to the world coincides with her parents getting engaged on this week’s episode of The Valley. It’s all come full circle for Kristen, who has had a reality TV comeback with her role on the Vanderpump Rules spinoff.
Kristen now has the family she’s dreamed of. It hasn’t been an easy journey. The VPR alum suffered a traumatic miscarriage in 2023, and feared a child wasn’t in her cards. But after undergoing intrauterine insemination, Kristen and Luke found out that they were expecting two weeks after filming Season 2 ended.
Luke Broderick and Kristen Doute welcomed baby Kaia earlier this year
The happy family posed for an exclusive photoshoot for Us Weekly. And Kristen shared some insight into Kaia’s birth, and how she and Luke are co-parenting.
“I feel really lucky, really fortunate. Truly, I could not have dreamed this,” she stated. “She is the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The Valley star continued, “Everyone told me that even though pregnancy was hard, the second you give birth, you don’t think about it anymore, it’s all worth it. They’re right!”
Kristen’s fertility struggles have been well documented on The Valley. And now she her “actual human” with her. She calls it “crazy.”
Kristen shared her birth story
As for the transition to a family of three, the couple have had the advantage of being between filming. However, they are putting any wedding planning on hold in order to focus on parenthood. The James Mae founder explained, “We’re not filming at the moment, so we’re really lucky that we have this time to spend as a family and not have to leave the house. We have a little time to adjust. I feel very fortunate for that.”
And the best part of motherhood as been “every single moment.” Kristen recalled how “exciting” it is when Kaia “opens her eyes for longer than two minutes” and interacts. She added, “those little ting things are just the biggest deal.”
Kristen was induced a week early, as her doctor didn’t want to go past the due date at 42. The labor lasted 14 hours, but she had an epidural. The reality TV star called the procedure “phenomenal” and cohesive with her birth plan.
“I am not that girl that’s going to do a natural home birth. When I had dilated from a four to a 10, they said, ‘Let’s do a practice push… OK, she’s coming, don’t push any more! We’re grabbing your doctor, it’s go time!’ Just like that, it was get ready, rock and roll, here we go. I pushed for nine minutes and there she was,” Kristen recalled.
She continued, ” Then she’s lying on my chest. It was just perfect. Luke cut her umbilical cord, they went to weigh her — she reached over and grabbed the side of the weighing station and tried to roll herself over at minutes old.”
Kristen and Luke are smitten with their little one
Kristen is falling in love with Luke all over again as he takes on the new role. The reality TV star called her fiancé, “so hot” and “amazing” as a father.
“Seeing him with his own daughter and the way she is with me, even at a week old, versus the way she is with him… I feel like she feels his energy. She’s very calm with him. He holds her, tears are gone,” the VPR alum shared.
For her part, Kristen feels “incredibly connected” to Kaia and thinks she’s the best person “to raise a little Kristen. “Though, she hopes Kaia is “more adventurous” than her and “less anxious.” Rather, that Kaia would mimic her father.
Kristen names “patience” as the biggest lesson she’s learned as a new mother. She explained, “I’m an extremely impatient person, but with her, it’s completely different. Like, all I have is patience and grace for her. We’re all just learning together.”
As for the future, Kaia is slated to film with her parents on The Valley Season 3. However, for now, Kristen is determined to raise her differently than the other second-generation Vanderpump Rules kids.
Catch The Valley Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo. It streams on Hayu in the UK and Ireland.
TELL US – WHAT WORDS OF CONGRATULATIONS WOULD YOU SHARE? ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT KAIA WILL FILM IN SEASON 3?
