RaeLynn’s newborn daughterDaisy Raehad the country star in tears from the moment they met.
“When she came out and they put her on my chest, I just started crying because I couldn’t believe that she was mine,“The Voicealum, 27, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
RaeLynn and husband Josh Davis, 30, welcomed their first child at 4:07 p.m. on Sept. 8 in Nashville — and she’s already taking after her mama. “Daisy’s definitely going to have a little sass to her, that’s for sure. We’re already seeing that in her personality!”
Josh Davis, RaeLynn and daughter Daisy Rae.Laura Moll Photo
On Daisy’s personality and preferences:
She was a little bit of a spitfire last night! But she’s very, very sweet. She’s still figuring out her face, but when she wakes up — I have videos of it — she always looks at me and gives me and her dad a side-eye that is the funniest thing ever. It’s like, “Why are you waking me up?! What the hell are you doing?” So she’s definitely going to have a little sass to her, that’s for sure. We’re already seeing that in her personality.
On who Daisy resembles so far:
On naming their daughter:
I always had a few names that I liked for her first name but it was never, “That’s our daughter’s name” when I heard it out loud. Never got to that point.
It ended up that I was at Claire’s at the mall, of all places, and there was this cute little girl with glasses and her hair up in curly blonde pigtails. She was trying to pick out something and she was just so cute and funny and sassy! I asked her, “What’s your name, darlin'?” She goes, “My name’s Daisy.” And I was like, “Oh my gosh. That is my kid’s future name.” I got in the car and told Josh, “Whenever we have a kid, we have to name our kid Daisy.” And he was like, “Actually, I really, really like that.”
Then I was stuck on a middle name. I’ve always loved the middle name Mae, but Mae doesn’t really mean anything to me besides being born in May and that’s M-A-Y. I was like, “She could be named after her Mommy and be Daisy Rae.” So that’s what we went for.
Daisy Rae Davis.Laura Moll Photo
On her induction and labor:
I had to get induced at 39 weeks because of my diabetes — they really won’t let you go past 39 weeks with Type 1. I’m always going to listen to what I need to do but with diabetes, I had to be so careful with my pregnancy.
I knew it was going to be a process though because Daisy wasnotready to come out. I don’t even think I had dropped. When I got there at 7 a.m. she was high as hell … sitting up so high. My real labor pains started that night around 7 p.m. — a full 12 hours later.
Any time you don’t let the process happen naturally, it always hurts a little more. I had Pitocin and all that — we were getting cranking and I was feeling those contractions. I got my epidural in the middle of the night, but I didn’t end up pushing until the next day at 11:30 a.m., noon. That whole time I was laboring and going in and out of sleep, but of course, you don’t really sleep. And then she came out right after 4 p.m. They always say your first one is the hardest but we got through it; we did it. It was a long labor but she did get here safely and I’m so thankful.
On seeing Daisy for the first time:
I was so emotional. The whole process took forever with them saying, “You’re probably going to have her in the next hour” — never had her. I was just waiting and waiting. When I was pushing, the doctor said, “Do you want to feel her head?” and I said no — I was so scared. But then when she came out and they put her on my chest, I just started crying because I couldn’t believe that she was mine and that she was here. I just realized — “This is who was in my stomach for the last nine months — on stage with me, going through every emotion with me. This is who me and my favorite person in the whole wide world, my husband, have created.” It’s a pretty wild feeling.
RaeLynn and daughter Daisy Rae.Laura Moll photo
On life as new parents:
We’re already spoiling her. We know the second kid ain’t going to get any of this crap, but the first one, we might as well do it! We’ve got the time, we’ve got the patience. It’s been awesome.
We’ve been getting in a really good flow though — we’ve been blessed. She’s been sleeping about six hours at a time at night. I chose to breastfeed but I’ll pump too so Josh can feed her and I can take a little nap during the day, and he’ll take a shift or two at night when I’m exhausted.
The first week was the hardest for me because you are going from however long your labor was — mine was 37 hours, I think — to instantly being a new mom. She was in our room at the hospital and I’m learning how to latch and trying to figure out this new person. Then you’re physically healing and nobody really told me about that process! I’m just giving myself a lot of patience and realizing this is not a sprint to the finish line. This is something that’s going to take some time.
Now that we’re getting into a rhythm, it feels a lot better. I’m learning her. My favorite so far is bath time because she loves the bathtub so much. You set her in the water and she’s just quiet, looking at you. She loves the water being poured on her little belly. She just loves it. I’ve always loved baths so I think she gets that from me. I could sit in the bath all day, every day!
On surprises and challenges of motherhood so far:
RaeLynn, Josh Davis and daughter Daisy Rae.Laura Moll Photo
On family support:
Oh my gosh — my mother-in-law stayed with me the first two weeks and then my sister-in-law came the next week. So for three weeks, I had them helping out with laundry and doing all the things that keep a household running and just let me focus on figuring out Daisy. They also helped out with her in the mornings, so if I needed a little more sleep, they would feed and burp her and let me go back to bed for a bit.
Cash, my German Shepherd, gives her a lot of attention — he’s been very patient with her. If I’m holding Daisy, he’ll put his head on my lap and smell her. Anytime I change direction to go nurse in another room, he follows me, which is really cute. My chihuahua Dolly has not even acknowledged her! She looks at her and then walks away. She definitely knows that there’s a new queen of the castle.
On how she wants to raise Daisy:
We’ve been thinking a lot about this. I always want Daisy to know she can do anything that her heart desires. That she can follow her dreams and also pursue things that I honestly believe just make the world go around — your marriage, your family. Those things are important and those things make you who you are. Your career is a part of you, but it’s not all of you. I just can’t wait for her to watch her dad chasing his dream and doing his thing [in the military] and then watching me continue to be on the road, continue to put out music and for her to travel with me.
The most important thing you can do as a parent is to continue to do what you love because you’re showing your kid that they can do whatevertheylove. You don’t have to give up one thing to have another. And I can’t wait to love and support her in that.
On getting back on the road as a mom:
I’m so excited, though, to be able to travel with her. What better way to become educated than to get to travel the world? I’ll never forget being in London watchingChris Stapletonand seeing his daughter in her PJs on the side of the stage rocking out. Literally headbanging to her parents onstage. I just sat there and I was like, “This is so incredible. And she’s not going to know any different.” I’m really excited for Daisy to have that experience.
For more from RaeLynn, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
