Kenya Moore‘s road to motherhood was full of ups and downs, but the latest chapter in her journey has one “beautiful” and happy ending.
TheReal Housewives of Atlantaalum, 47, recently became a first time mom,welcoming newborn daughter Brooklyn Doris on Nov. 4.
“She’s so perfect in so many ways,” adds Moore, who says Brooklyn “makes 101 faces” that always make her laugh. “This little angel … so beautiful. I feel so blessed. It’s all been so worth it.”
Audra Melton
If Moore sounds extra gushy, that’s because she’s overcome a lot to get to this moment.
Meeting New York restaurateur Marc Daly, 48, in 2016 changed all that. The couplewed in “a romantic” and intimate St. Lucia ceremony in June 2017, and immediately got to work at starting a family. (“We both want to start a family and soon — like, right away,” she told PEOPLE at the time, “We both want a child.”)
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“There were so many scares along the way,” Moore says, explaining she was seeing an OBGYN and perinatologist (a specialist for high-risk pregnancy) weekly. “We held our breath every time we went to the doctor.”
Days later, she visited her OBGYN and got on the scale. “In one week, I had gained 17 lbs.” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute, is this scale right?’ ‘Cause I remembered specifically what my weight was, and at that point, I was at 203 lbs. already. And then when they weighed me, I was 220 lbs. And I was thinking, ‘Something is not right here. Is the scale broken?’ ”
Further tests found protein in Moore’s urine and heightened blood pressure, more signs of preeclampsia. Doctors continued to monitor her and give her more tests over the following days, until they finally decided to pull the trigger.
“I called them to give them my blood pressure readings and my reading was through the roof and climbing,” Moore explains. “They told me, ‘Your condition is worsening so get your bags and go straight to the hospital, you’re delivering today.’ ”
Frightened, and with Daly still on a plane to Atlanta, Moore recalls bursting into tears. “It was all happening so fast,” she says. “I started crying because I got so scared. I couldn’t get a hold of Marc, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just remember feeling overwhelmed with emotion. It was really tough.”
At one point, Moore’s epidural ran out and doctors gave her anesthesia to put her out. She jokes, “When it was all over, my doctor said, ‘This was one for the books.’ ”
This week’s cover.Peggy Sirota
Of course, all those hurdles were worth it the moment Moore held her daughter for the first time. Both were crying, but calmness fell upon them the second Brooklyn was placed in Moore’s arms.
“They laid her down on my chest, and those screaming cries stopped immediately,” Moore recalls. “She was just so perfect, so tiny. And just like that, all my dreams had come true.”
Brooklyn Doris — named after where the couple met and fell in love, as well as Moore’s grandmother — was born nearly six weeks premature. Although her arrival was challenging, it’s been smooth sailing ever since.
source: people.com
