Beloved 2000s Disney Channel Star Pregnant With Her First Child

That’s So Raven stars Anneliese van der Pol and Johnno Wilson are expecting their first child. The expectant parents, who played ex-husband and wife on the Disney sitcom Raven’s Home, are expecting their first baby together, per an exclusive with PEOPLE.

Their baby girl is due in October. “We’re having a girl! I have two sisters and I could not be happier to bring another girl into the sisterhood,” van der Pol explained, nothing they learned at a gender reveal. “I didn’t realize how much I wanted a girl until he swung and it went pink.”

“Of course, you just want a healthy child, and a boy would’ve been exciting too, but there’s something about a girl in this time that I’m just so proud of,” she says. “I don’t want her to be a performer or care if she’s a doctor…but she WILL be a feminist.”

Starting a family is something that wasn’t initially in the cards for the couple. “First of all, we were the couple that said we would never have kids,” the actress admits. “We knew early on in our relationship that we had something amazing between us, so we had the kids convo early on and agreed — let’s just focus on career and travel,” Johnno added. “I highly recommend checking in with each other every few years.”

Turning 40 changed things for them. They immediately consulted a fertility specialist, but things progressed naturally for them. “Literally the day before we were meant to meet our IVF [in vitro fertilization] doctor, I realized I was late,” she says. “So I took a test, saw two lines, and canceled our appointment. I put the pregnancy stick on Johnno’s pillow and watched him figure it out when he came in to bring me my morning coffee.”

Both were emotional when they found out the news. The pregnancy has been a breeze thus far, which has been hopeful for the actress. “We were not going to be disillusioned about the pregnancy or the first year in the slightest. And thankfully, I’ve had a really wonderful pregnancy.”

But her appetite has been something else. “Oh yes, those cravings are real. Also, no one told me about the quickening, which is the baby moving around at anywhere from 17 to 20 weeks,” she explains. “When that started, it really made us excited to meet this little one. I think we have another dancer on our hands.”