Congratulations are in order for Leah Cohen — she’s a mom!
The Top Chef alum and her husband Ben Byruch welcomed their first child together, a son, on Monday, Sept. 23, at 1:51 p.m., her rep confirms exclusively to PEOPLE.
Carter Graham Byruch — who was named after both of Byruch’s grandfathers, Carl and George — arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, measuring 21 inches long and weighing in at 7 lbs., 2 oz.
“Ben and I couldn’t be happier with our healthy, beautiful baby boy, Carter Graham,” Cohen tells PEOPLE, explaining that she “didn’t even realize [she] was going into labor” at first and “thought [she] was just having stomach aches!”
“Ben started to time my ‘aches’ on his own and after an hour and a half, he decided it was time to take me to the emergency room,” she adds. “They admitted me right away; I was 5 centimeters dilated. I pushed for only one hour, and then we met Carter.”
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Cohen — who placed sixth on the Bravo cooking-competition series’ fifth season — and Byruch were married in July 2016. The couple own Pig & Khao Filipino-Thai restaurant in New York City and Piggyback Bar in Jersey City, New Jersey, where Cohen currently serves as head chef.
The new mom shared her pregnancy news exclusively with PEOPLE in March, saying, “Ben and I are so excited to announce that we’re growing our family this October. We’ve wanted this for a while now and we’re so grateful that we get to be parents.”
“This will definitely be our hardest but most rewarding project yet,” Cohen added.
Cohen has given her Instagram followers occasional updates throughout her pregnancy. Her last baby-bump photos showed a side-by-side comparison of her at two months pregnant compared to almost 38 weeks.
“Pregnancy is a crazy thing … 30weeks and almost 35lbs later and I’m still amazed by how much my body can take #transformationtuesday,” she captioned the post. “On the left I’m 2 months pregnant on the right I’m a little more than 2 weeks left. This baby is coming.”
And aside from their first child, Cohen and Byruch are celebrating a second “baby” — their new restaurant Piggyback NYC, opening this fall in the north Chelsea area of Manhattan.
The eatery “will highlight familiar cuisine with nuances of Asian flavors, influences and techniques,” a rep tells PEOPLE in a statement, with prices starting at $12 for dishes like Shrimp Toast Okonomiyaki, Chả Cá Lã Vọng, Cantonese-Style Pan-Fried Rouget and Charcoal-Smoked Dry-Aged Ribeye.
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