Overview
- Ikeda surprised her Today cohosts on Monday, Aug. 31, by saying she is five months pregnant and showing sonogram photos; she gave a reported due date of January 17.
- She told TODAY.com that her first trimester was very difficult with severe nausea and that a July episode of light-headedness during an interview led her to quietly tell Rosie Rios she was pregnant.
- Colleagues reacted on air with hugs and a gift basket, and producers and fellow reporters have checked in with her after emotionally taxing assignments.
- Ikeda and her husband Pat are expecting their first child and have chosen not to learn the baby’s sex before birth and to skip a gender reveal.
- The announcement highlights the practical challenge reporters face when covering intense stories while pregnant and signals that Ikeda will remain active in her contributor and fill-in host roles as she moves through her second trimester.