by Dan J Kroll

Posted Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:29:56 PM

Jessica Leccia (Natalia Rivera) and her husband, Brian Malloy, are now the proud parents of a baby girl. The child, named Ivy Lola Malloy, was born on Wednesday, June 10 at 9:10 AM. Little Ivy weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz. This is the couple's first child.

Noticing Leccia's constant standing behind furniture or oversized bags, fans have been contacting Soap Central for weeks, asking if the actress was pregnant in real life -- and wondering why Guiding Light didn't write Leccia's pregnancy into show. A show spokesperson explained that making Natalia pregnant didn't fit into the story that the show was trying to tell.

Earlier this year, Leccia confirmed to Soap Central that she would be taking a brief maternity leave from Guiding Light, though the actress declined to speculate on how long she'd be away from the show.

With Crystal Chappell (Olivia Spencer), Leccia has earned legions of fans as one-half of the Guiding Light couple affectionately dubbed "Otalia." During the show's on-location shoot in Orlando, Florida, in March, Chappell, Leccia, and Frank Dicopoulos (Frank Cooper) talked about their ground-breaking love triangle. The actors shirked claims that the show was telling a "lesbian story," instead labeling the plot a "love story."

Leccia joined the cast of Guiding Light in April 2007.