Congratulations are in order for The Randy Rogers Band lead singer and his family!
During an interview with Taste of Country at the 2017 Grammy Block Party at SXSW, Randy Rogers announced that he and his wife, Chelsea, are expecting a little girl.
“Baby due May 19 — another little girl,” Rogers shared. “Fingers crossed.”
The exciting news comes almost two years after tragedy struck the Rogers family in June 2015. Chelsea and Randy, already parents to daughters Isabel and River, welcomed another baby girl, Rumer Rain, on June 3, 2015. They were overjoyed for their third daughter’s arrival, who had a head full of dark hair just like her mama.
“My other two babies have my light hair,” Rogers told PEOPLE. “Chelsea really wanted a baby with dark hair like her. The minute Rumer was born I was like, ‘Hell, yes!’ She had a full head of dark hair! The moment was just full of joy. We thought we had a healthy baby. We shared the news with friends and even posted a picture on social media.”
Their happiness quickly faded when Rumer “wouldn’t eat and wouldn’t wake up”. The doctors and nurses informed Randy and Chelsea that sometimes, babies think they’re still in their mom’s bellies so it takes them a while to wake up and eat.
Eight hours after she was born, Rumer was rushed to the NICU to run several tests.
“It was a six-day process. It was heart-wrenching and grueling not knowing what was wrong,” he said. “She was put on a feeding tube pretty early on because she couldn’t eat or swallow, then she decided to stop breathing and we had to put her on a vent.”
After days of testing, the doctors finally figured out what was wrong with Rumer. She had a rare, genetic disorder called nonketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH), which affects 1 in 66,000 newborns in the United States and has no cure. After a heartbreaking fight, Rumer passed away just 6 days old.
He revealed to PEOPLE that just because they experienced heartbreak, it wouldn’t prevent them from having a child in the future. Although they would have to go through vigorous amounts of genetic testing, genetic screening and use in vitro fertilization, the couple knew they are meant to be parents to more children.
Their heartbreak has turned to happiness once again with the announcement of their new addition. The family is thinking of R names including Rebel, Remy, and Randi.
“I’m gonna have an all-girl band — make them do some punk rock or something,” he says of his daughters.
Congratulations, Randy and Chelsea!