Pregnant Lindsay Hubbard Opens Up About Finding Happiness After Heartbreak: 'The Universe Had a Plan' (Exclusive)

"My prayers were answered," the 'Summer House' star tells PEOPLE of her happy news

Lindsay Hubbard certainly knows the difference a year makes.

As fireworks were falling on the Fourth of July in 2023, the Summer House star was beside her then-fiancé Carl Radke, the two putting aside the stress of planning their November nuptials and the conflict in their crumbling relationship to celebrate the holiday.

But as Bravo fans will tell you, plenty has changed since then.

In August the same year, Radke called off their "I dos," leaving Hubbard heartbroken as the vision she had for her future disappeared in front of her eyes. She rallied and started a new business venture, found love again with a former flame, sold her unused wedding dresses, and on Independence Day this year made the joyful announcement that she's pregnant with her first baby, due this holiday season.

"To think where I was this time last year is insane to me," Hubbard tells PEOPLE, in an exclusive interview about her happy news. "Looking back on it, it's just so clear to me that the universe had a plan."

"The journey is really just crazy," she adds. "All of a sudden, for a girl who's always wanted to be a mom, there I was at 37 years old, staring down the barrel of being single and questioning when dreams of having a family would happen. And then this incredible man comes back into my life and next thing you know, I'm pregnant. It's like the universe was saying, 'See? This is the time. This it the guy. Now you're ready.' I feel like my prayers were answered."

Related: Lindsay Hubbard on How She 'Pivoted' 6 Months After Engagement End: 'I'm Stronger on My Own 2 Feet'

Hubbard and her boyfriend — a doctor who works in biotech investing and prefers to keep out of the public eye — were only dating for a few months when she learned she was pregnant.

She recalls being two weeks late for her period when she suspected something might be up and decided to buy a Clearblue Digital Early Pregnancy Test, which is over 99% accurate from the day a period is expected.

"It immediately and unmistakably displayed with words 'You are pregnant' and as shocking as that was, having a really clear result just helped alleviate the unknown," Hubbard says. "Those next steps are a little scary, but at least they're easier just knowing one way or another what you're working with."It’

From there, Hubbard went to her OB-GYN for blood work to test her human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) levels. The results came while she was on an airplane to Mexico for her best friend's wedding.

"My boyfriend wasn't with me, so that was a little hard," she recalls. "That's not something you want to tell someone in a text message or a phone call, so I went through the wedding weekend and then told him when I got back."

Summer House viewers know well of Hubbard's desires to have a baby, the former publicist even going through the egg freezing process for the Bravo cameras. But her boyfriend had those dreams, too.

"Obviously, it was a surprise and a shock at first because we were not trying or even planning, but we had some honest conversations and it just felt so right for both of us," Hubbard says. "We have a very loving, caring and healthy relationship. I finally feel like I met my match with him."

"He's just so excited to be a dad and proud to be having a child with me," she continues. "It just means the world to have someone like him by my side. And yes, it is a lot of pressure on a new relationship, but I think because he's the right man because we are so bonded and connected and communicate very effectively with each other that it hasn't felt like work.

"You know, I've almost made terrible mistakes in my past because of a biological clock that we naturally as women have, and this is the one time where it just all feels so right."

Related: Exes Lindsay Hubbard and Carl Radke Will Both Return to Summer House Season 9 After Calling Off Wedding

That doesn't mean she doesn't feel the fears that come with change.

"Oh, no one is ever truly ready when they're having their first baby — mom friends of mine tell me that all the time, even those that were trying. It's a learning curve!" Hubbard admits. "But again, the timing for me is right. Everything that led up to this point, I can draw upon those experiences and I think they'll help me be a better mom because of them."

It's that belief in herself that's helped carry Hubbard through.

"I have to tell you, even when everything was happening last year, I never gave up on love and I never gave up on the idea that I'd be a mom," says Hubbard. "And that's how I've always been: I just never allowed any past heartbreak to make me feel jaded about these dreams I've had. And that's why I think it the universe took care of me; because I always believed it would happen."

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Season 9 of Summer House is now filming. Former seasons can be seen on Peacock.

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