"My proud Greek heritage." Kayla Itsines on the special meaning behind her baby girl's name.

As Kayla Itsines celebrated her first Mother’s Day as a mum, she shared the personal story behind her baby daughter’s name – Arna Leia Pearce – with her millions of followers on Instagram.

Kayla, who welcomed her first child with partner Tobi Pearce on April 30, posted a photo of the “incredible women” in her life, including her grandmother, mother Anna and sister Leah, in celebration of Mother’s Day.

She captioned the photo: “What I would like to do today, is share with you something personal and very close to my heart. The meaning behind the name Tobi and I chose to give our beautiful baby girl, Arna Leia Pearce.”

The 27-year-old fitness entrepreneur explained that when choosing her baby girl’s name she wanted a name that was “somewhat Greek and traditional by passing on the names of my family through to the next generation”.

“Our daughter Arna Leia is named after my incredible mother, Anna and hilarious sister, Leah,” she wrote.

 

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How lucky am I on my very first #MothersDay to be surrounded with these incredible women and blessed with my new baby girl! Family has always been SO important to me and the last few weeks have only reinforced this. The support of the women in my family has been just amazing. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ This quiet time has also truly opened my eyes to the strength and reassurance that I find in you, the #BBGCommunity. Your kind words and well wishes have been just overwhelming and I can’t thank you enough ????????. What I would like to do today, is share with you something personal and very close to my heart. The meaning behind the name Tobi and I chose to give our beautiful baby girl, Arna Leia Pearce. When choosing a name for our daughter we wanted to choose a name that was somewhat Greek and traditional by passing on the names of my family through to the next generation. Our daughter Arna Leia is named after my incredible mother, Anna and hilarious sister, Leah. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ In Greek, Anna is ‘Avva’ we chose Arna as this spelling is the closest to the pronunciation in greek. It was to our delight that in other cultures the name Arna means ‘strength’. We thought that was so beautiful! Leia is the Greek spelling of Leah. We chose these names to preserve my family’s proud Greek heritage. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ To all the mothers out there, whatever your special story is with your family, cherish it always and forever but on this day, celebrate it with your family.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ #Family #MothersDay2019 ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ www.kaylaitsines.com/app

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines) on May 11, 2019 at 4:08pm PDT

⁣⁣⁣Kayla went on to explain that in Greek, Anna is ‘Avva’, so she and Tobi decided to go with ‘Arna’ as “this spelling is the closest to the pronunciation in Greek”.

“It was to our delight that in other cultures the name Arna means ‘strength’. We thought that was so beautiful!” she added.

Kayla and Tobi also chose ‘Leia’ as it is the Greek spelling of Leah.

“We chose these names to preserve my family’s proud Greek heritage,” she said.

Kayla and Tobi first shared the happy news about their baby in April this year.

“I just stared into Tobi’s eyes the whole time during delivery, nervously whispering ‘please let her be healthy, please be okay, please be okay’ and Tobi kept repeating ‘I love you so much – she’s going to be healthy it’s okay just breathe it’s okay’. We both were crying,” Kayla wrote of her delivery at the time.

According to the post, baby Arna was delivered via cesarean. Kayla described her as “a happy, quiet bubba who LOVES her big Greek family”.

Kayla said she felt “blessed”.

“I am blessed to have Tobi and my family be there every day. I am so thankful to have the most amazing doctor and midwives ever to help me. This experience has been amazing for me and I am proud to say that.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣Thank you everyone for being SO amazing!! We are so in love and happy. Holding her for the first time in our arms was truly the best day of our life.”

 

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????Welcome to the world – ⁣⁣ Arna Leia Pearce ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ???? I just stared into Tobis eyes the whole time during delivery, nervously whispering “please let her be healthy, please be okay, please be okay” and Tobi kept repeating “I love you so much – she’s going to be healthy it’s okay just breathe it’s okay”. We both were crying.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ In that second, we heard her cry for the first time, the doctors and nurses examined her quickly, bought her over to us and said “she is absolutely perfect”. My doctor said “Look at that hair and those cheeks! Amazing!”⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I don’t even know how to describe how I felt in that moment. I looked over at Tobi who looked like the proudest Dad I’ve ever seen, with tears running down his face he gave me a kiss on the forehead and whispered “She’s so perfect, I love you”.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ She is perfect indeed! From the start, she knew exactly who we were and was instantly calm. Tobi went into ‘Dad mode’ straight away. From someone who made jokes the whole 9 months about not being able to change a diaper … to now not wanting to let ANYONE change her because he wants to help – has made me love him even MORE. Tobi wraps her up and cuddles her and she goes straight to sleep ???? She’s a happy quiet bubba who LOVES her big greek family????⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ As for me, I ended up having a cesarean, as recommended by the doctor. I was a little bit sore, but after a couple of days I was generally fine, just no lifting other than Arna. Now, I just need to rest, eat good food, drink lots of water and I’ll be okay!⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I feel so BLESSED right now. I AM blessed to have Tobi and my family be there every day. I am so thankful to have the most amazing doctor and midwives ever to help me. This experience has been amazing for me and I am proud to say that????????.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣Thank you everyone for being SO amazing!! We are so in love and happy. Holding her for the first time in our arms was truly the best day of our life????

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines) on Apr 29, 2019 at 2:01pm PDT

Kayla, the 27-year-old behind the Bikini Body Guide (BBG) and SWEAT app, shared a gender reveal video with her 10.7 million Instagram followers in January this year.

“It’s a ….. [girl] AWWW!! @tobi_pearce screamed “YYYESSSSSSS!!!!!” (and I ate half the confetti, it’s fine) WE ARE SOOOOO EXCITED!!” the Adelaide-based personal trainer captioned the video of her fiancé Pearce popping the balloon to reveal pink confetti.

 

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????????????It’s a …..???????????? AWWW!! @tobi_pearce screamed “YYYESSSSSSS!!!!!” (and I ate half the confetti, it’s fine????) WE ARE SOOOOO EXCITED!! Leah and Mitch had the best reaction haha I love it!! ????????For the people about to ask where my grandparents are in this, swipe across to see their own little surprise we did for them at Christmas!! We wanted my Yiayia to pop the ballon in front of 50 of our family members. We wanted to make it special for them and make it their best Christmas ever so we waited for a couple more days to reveal to Yiayia and Papou what we are having! From the first day we found out we were pregnant Tobi said “It’s a girl!! I can FEEL IT!!… but for now, I will call her baby muffin… but I know it’s a girl, I love her so much already, when can I meet her? How long do I have to wait? This isn’t fair!!! I want to hold her now” haha sooooo cute!! ???????? Happy New Year everyone!!! Xxx Kayla and Tobi xxX ???????? @idocinema

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines) on Dec 31, 2018 at 11:52am PST

Kayla and Tobi announced they were expecting their first child on Instagram last December.

“Tobi and I do not even have words to describe how happy and excited we are to bring you this news! If you don’t know already, I come from a big greek family. FAMILY is always what comes first in my life. To be able to start my own family with the person I love most in this world is just an absolute dream come true,” she wrote.

“@tobi_pearce has been SO supportive, SO EXCITED and so loving! He comes home every day, hugs and kisses my stomach. He lays on my legs and asks the baby how it’s day was. He is at every scan and every appointment. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. Our family, well haha.. you can just imagine – they are of course ABSOLUTELY OVER THE MOON EXCITED. I know you are already picturing the look on their faces when we told them,” she added.

 

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????????????20 WEEKS PREGNANT???????????? . Tobi and I do not even have words to describe how happy and excited we are to bring you this news!???? If you don’t know already, I come from a big greek family????????. FAMILY is always what comes first in my life. To be able to start my own family with the person I love most in this world is just an absolute dream come true. @tobi_pearce has been SO supportive, SO EXCITED and so loving! ???? He comes home every day, hugs and kisses my stomach. He lays on my legs and asks the baby how it’s day was. He is at every scan and every appointment. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. Our family, well haha.. you can just imagine – they are of course ABSOLUTELY OVER THE MOON EXCITED. I know you are already picturing the look on their faces when we told them???? I know you ladies probably have 1 million questions … but for now, let’s celebrate this amazing moment together as we are adding one new #bbg member in May next year. ❤️ We are SO happy to share this news and our journey with you! Thank you everyone !! Tobi and Kayla ❤️ song – Lukas Graham – Love someone @idocinema

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines) on Dec 19, 2018 at 11:15am PST

The couple announced their engagement in April, 2018, after six years together.

Together, the pair created the BBG plan and the SWEAT app, which has earned them a combined net worth of $423 million and a place AFR’s 2018 Young Rich List.