The 41-year-old singer - who recently put an end to months of speculation by announcing she was expecting her first child with husband Nick Cannon - was "overly cautious" about revealing her happy news to the world after suffering a miscarriage at the end of 2008.

She explained: "It`s always difficult when you are in love with the man who is your soul mate for life and you are both really happy and excited about a prospective child being born. So many women experience miscarriage and I knew that my faith and God would get us all through, and that if it was meant to be, one day it would be.

"I became extra superstitious and overly cautious because of what we had gone through a year and a half ago, so didn`t want to talk about it publicly for a long time during the first trimester."

The `We Belong Together` hitmaker also revealed it took her four tests until she believed she had fallen pregnant again.

Mariah said in an interview with Hello! magazine: "I was at home, I took a test by myself, and then another one, and another one, and when Nick got home I showed him the first, second and third tests, and then we did another one together. We were both ecstatic."
sections: Celebrities