Jenna Compono and Zach Nichols are parents! The former stars of the MTV reality show The Challenge have welcomed their first child together, a baby boy, this week. Zach, 33, shared the news on his Instagram Story on Friday, Sept. 3, sharing an image of his son’s hand. He did not offer any more details, including an arrival date or name.
The couple, fan favorites who met on The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2 in 2014, announced that they were expecting on Valentine’s Day earlier this year. Jenna shared a series of photos on Instagram that featured a sonogram and tiny denim jacket embroidered with Baby Nichols. “Zach & I are expecting our first baby,” she captioned the post. “After our wedding was postponed, we decided to start the next chapter of our lives.”
“It really wasn’t a hard decision for us, we were both super excited and ready,” she continued. “Luckily, we were fortunate enough to get pregnant on our first try and have had zero complications regarding my first trimester. We are truly blessed and we can’t wait to meet our little one in August.” The following month, the couple confirmed they were having a boy in a gender reveal video.
After the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic delayed their wedding, Jenna and Zach wed in an intimate ceremony in early March of this year in Michigan. Jenna told PEOPLE that the two didn’t want to put “their life on hold” any longer. “Our plan was to get married in February and have a baby immediately after,” she told the outlet. “Due to COVID and having to reschedule our wedding to a year away, we decided to do things backward.”
“Realistically, we don’t know how the world is going to be next year, so our wedding isn’t even promised. We didn’t want to put our life on hold any longer for something that isn’t promised,” she continued, adding that they wed in front of immediate family only. “It was really special to have both my family and Zach’s family there,” Jenna said. “Especially my dad, who hasn’t been on a plane in over 20 years. Although we wished we could have had our big wedding this year, it definitely was more memorable and intimate celebrating with our close family first, and everyone else later on.”
Congratulations to the new parents!