It’s a happy day in the lives of Darin Brooks and Kelly Kruger!
The couple welcomed daughter Everleigh Jolie Brooks at 4:13 a.m. on Sunday, September 22 in Los Angeles. Little Everleigh was born weighing 9 lbs. and 1 oz., and 21.5 inches long.
“It still feels so surreal, like one big blurry dream,” Kelly who is starring in No Place Like Home this fall, tells PEOPLE. “We’ve waited so long to meet our little girl and we can’t believe she’s finally here! She’s everything!”
“We keep looking at her in disbelief that we made her,” the new mom, 36, adds. “We look at her and try to figure out who she looks more like. She has my hair because I also was born with a ton, and she definitely has Darin’s height.”
Everleigh also has someone else’s looks — Kelly’s grandmother, Jolan!
“Jolie in French means beautiful, so we always knew that would be the name if we had a daughter one day. Then when we met her, she looked like and Everleigh and since it felt like forever from when we started trying to get pregnant to finally meeting her, the name just fit her perfectly,” Kelly says.
As for new dad Darin, the Bold and the Beautiful star is already over the moon.
“Long lean and with great hair — she’s already a supermodel!” Darin tells PEOPLE. “Everyone always says, ‘your whole life changes and she’s gonna be the apple of your eye and a daddy’s girl,’ but it’s true!”
“When she came out, I looked at her and that was it! She’s just amazing, and to think that we made her is just surreal! She’s half Kelly (hopefully with more of Kelly’s qualities) and half me,” Darin marvels.
But the actor wanted to point out that even though Everleigh is already a daddy’s girl, he’s not going to be spoiling her as she grows up.
“But let’s be clear, I’m not going to let her get away with anything as she gets older,” the Days of Our Lives alum says. “I’m not a pushover… she’s going to have to get a job soon.”
Kelly, however, wasn’t so sure about that. “Yeah, right. We shall see! She’s already got him wrapped around her little finger,” The Young and the Restless star says.
Both Kelly and Darin say that they are grateful for one another throughout the pregnancy — the pair told PEOPLE in April that they had been trying to get pregnant for about a year.
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Kelly said that she leaned on her husband throughout labor — which lasted from Wednesday to Sunday! — and in the days that they’ve been home from the hospital.
“Throughout this entire pregnancy, through the labor (Wednesday—Sunday) and since we have gotten home with Everleigh, Darin has been unbelievable,” Kelly says, adding a shoutout to their “amazing doula Lori Bregman,” who she says “was also such a gift — so knowledgable and supportive. We got very lucky!”
Darin echoed Kelly’s words with some loving words of his own for his “rockstar” wife.
“Kelly has been truly a rockstar through all of this. She’s been thrown a lot of unexpected curveballs and I’m just so impressed with her and her strength and determination,” he says. “Trust me, I will make sure our little girl knows how special her mommy is.”
Darin also wanted to give a PSA about encouraging moms-to-be: “Also, a quick note, for anyone out there who sees a pregnant woman, try not to say, ‘wow you look huge!’ or ‘it looks like you’re having twins in there! When are you due?'”
Instead, the actor suggests to offer a simple compliment: “You don’t know what they’re actually going through! Just say, ‘you look beautiful! You look amazing!’ Because it truly is amazing what Kelly has gone through and did for us. I have a daughter now and with any luck, she’ll get everything, including her strength, from her mother!”
The couple celebrated their baby shower in July, and Darin commemorated the happy event with a joyful Instagram post, writing in the caption, “We had such a blast at our baby shower!!! Thank you to @camrich11 @sarahjeannetteruffino@cherisebangs @avenueluxe @grodanjand @susanbrooks6460 for all putting this on!! Seriously we love you all! We had good food, good drinks and great people!! We can’t wait for our little girl to join this world, especially this wonderful family!! ❤️”
On Monday, Kelly shared one last photo of her baby bump, on which she balanced a mug that read “Mom est 2019.”
“Gonna miss this table. Can’t wait to finally meet you baby Brooks 💕,” she wrote in the caption.
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