Mariah Carey announces she's pregnant

NEW YORK – Mariah Carey is going to have to add lullabies to her repertoire.

The superstar singer confirmed on NBC's "Today" show Thursday that she and husband Nick Cannon are expecting their first child. Carey says the baby is due in the spring.

Carey had declined to discuss her pregnancy, the subject of rampant speculation for months, until now.

"Yes, we are pregnant, it's true," she said in an interview with "Access Hollywood's" Billy Bush that was shown on "Today."

"It's been a long journey, but it's been tough because I've been trying to ... hold on to a shred of privacy, and that was not easy."

Carey, 40, and Cannon, 30, have been the subject of a baby watch since they got married after a whirlwind romance two years ago.

They laughed off the rumors when they occurred soon after their wedding.

"We thought it was fun, because they kept saying, 'Oh she's pregnant.' Yeah, whatever. So we took the test and it was positive," she said.

But Carey had a miscarriage soon afterward.

"It was really sad, so we really had to absorb this and take it in," she said.

Cannon hailed his wife's strength for being able to laugh in front of the cameras, but later, "crying herself to sleep."
Bush said that Carey told him the baby was conceived naturally, and added that the couple does not know the sex of the baby.

Besides a baby on the way, Carey also has a new album: her second holiday CD, "Merry Christmas II You."