Hailey Whitters Welcomes First Baby with Husband Jake Gear: ‘Our Sweet Son’

Hailey Whitters and Jake Gear are officially parents!

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the country star, 36, announced that she and the music publishing executive welcomed their first baby, son Rye Whitters Gear, on Thursday, Dec. 4. The Corn Queen artist shared the exciting news on Instagram on Tuesday, Dec. 9, showing a glimpse of their newborn.

“🤎 RYE WHITTERS GEAR 🤎 .. and just like that everything is different. Born Dec 4th on a cold moon super moon with a true knot, we have no doubt Uncle D held you close in his heavenly arms before handing you off to us on the mortal side,” the newly minted mom wrote in the caption.

“The cliche really is true – we don’t know what we ever did without you here. We can’t wait to see who you become,” she continued. “Thank you to all our friends and family who’ve checked in on us these last few weeks… the boy is already so well-loved. Welcome to the world, our sweet son.”

The family’s new addition comes after Whitters announced in August that she and Gear were expecting their first baby together.

“Our greatest production yet 🤍 baby boy coming in Nov,” she wrote next to a joint Instagram post filled with photos of her and her husband in a cornfield.

For the photo shoot, Whitters had two outfit changes — a yellow mini-dress and a flowy white dress. Gear, meanwhile, wore a white collar tee and blue jeans.

Whitters and Gear tied the knot in October 2022 after more than 10 years together. The country crooner announced the news at the time on Instagram, writing, “said yes to forever in a field somewhere.”

She later told PEOPLE that the two tied the knot at a “quaint country church” in her hometown of Shueyville and had a reception at her father’s farm.

Guests indulged in whole hog barbecue supplied by a local farmer, pies from a local orchard and cidery called Wilson’s Orchard, and wine provided by the women-owned DrinkBev.

The pair were engaged in July 2020 in an Iowa cornfield.

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While speaking with PEOPLE in June 2021, Whitters said that they initially held off on making wedding plans during the COVID-19 pandemic “because my family is gonna want to get loud and drunk and sweaty and dance — and that just didn’t even sound safe.”

Her professional dreams have always remained the same, however.

Success is “to be able to just create music that I love,” Whitters told PEOPLE at the time. “It sounds very simple, but I just want to wake up and be inspired to write and to record and to perform songs that really hit me and hit other people. I don’t care if it’s for 50 people or 50,000. I’ve learned the older I get to keep my dreams simple.”