Jo Ling Kent and her husband, Scott Conroy, are officially parents of two!
Wednesday afternoon, the NBC News business and tech correspondent revealed that they welcomed baby Delancey Mei to the world late last month.
In an Instagram post, Jo wrote that they took “an unexpected detour to the pediatric ICU for a week after Baby Del arrived, but thankfully all is well and she is healthy and feisty.”
One photo shows Jo holding her newborn in the hospital in the tell-tale baby blanket.
The second picture shows the happy family back at home, with Baby Del in her mom’s arms and sister Mira Ling in her dad’s.
Jo told TODAY they chose to name the baby after Delancey Street on the Lower East Side of New York City where they shared their first apartment together.
"Mei means beautiful (or younger sister, depending on pronunciation) in Chinese," she said in an email, adding that "Mira is loving her promotion to the exalted title of Big Sister."
Jo concluded her Instagram post by saying she’s thankful to have time off with her little ones post-partum and encouraging companies to have paid leave for employees to take care of their growing families.
“It’s something every single parent in our country should have access to, no matter how a child is welcomed into a family,” she wrote.
Jo first revealed her pregnancy on TODAY in December, joking that “there are certain packages that really can’t be rushed this holiday season” after wrapping up a report of holiday shipping and shopping deadlines. “Scott, my husband, and I are so thrilled to share that we are having a baby girl come this spring.”
In her announcement, Jo told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb that they would need to give their advice about adding a second baby to the household mix.
“I feel like we’re just now kind of figuring this out, and here we go again!” Jo laughed at the time.
Hoda said she thought things get easier with baby No. 2, but Savannah disagreed.
“Well ... I’ll tell you the truth, Jo,” Savannah joked, telling Jo to call her after the show. She added that two kids is actually "wonderful" though.
"And (as parents) you’ve still got man-to-man zone defense, so two is good," Savannah said.
Throughout her pregnancy, Jo shared "bumpdates" on her Instagram and was able to relate to pregnant women deciding to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
In a segment on April 1, Jo took the step of getting vaccinated on the air.
Though there is not much research yet on the impact of the COVID-19 vaccination for those who are expecting, a large report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in April found it appears to be safe during pregnancy.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine has also endorsed vaccination in pregnancy, based on evidence it has been evaluating for over a year.
’’Everyone, including pregnant women and those seeking to become pregnant, should get a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines are safe and effective,” the society said in a statement.
