Emily Maynard Johnson has welcomed her sixth child, Jones West.
The 36-year-old “Bachelorette” star discovered that her newborn son had been born with Down syndrome shortly after delivery.
“I am so grateful,” Maynard Johnson explained in an interview with PEOPLE. “But I’m still on my journey of processing everything. And I have to trust that it will all turn out alright.”
In addition to Down syndrome, Jones was born with a rare congenital colon abnormality that needed surgery and required a month-long stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU.)
The TV personality shares Ricki, 17, Jennings, 7, Gibson, 6, Gatlin, 5 and Nola Belle, 2, with her husband Tyler Johnson.
When Emily learned of Jones’ diagnosis, she said, “I was in shock. It was not on my radar at all. And I refused to believe it. I just wanted to hold him and for everything to be okay.”
Maynard Johnson shared that her newborn’s diagnosis was confirmed by a blood test; the reality star had opted out of genetic testing during her pregnancy
The Bachelor nation star said that leaving her son in the NICU alone was “devastating.”
She recalled, “I was just grieving all of it and that the experience was so different from what I had expected. Waking up the next morning hearing all the babies crying down the hallway while I was in the room alone, it hurt so much.”
Now that Jones is finally home, Emily is drinking up every moment with her “sweet and smiley” baby.
“He’s the easiest baby and he’s just been our biggest blessing,” she gushed. “I’m still learning about Down syndrome, but I’m trying to also just experience Jones as Jones and not as different than any of the other kids.”
Maynard Jones admitted that “looking back on my life, a lot of things happened that I wouldn’t have planned, but I wouldn’t change my life for anything. And I wouldn’t trade Jones for any baby in the world.”
Emily also took to Instagram on Wednesday to share the news of Jones’ arrival with her followers.
“SURPRISE! On August 31st, Tyler and I welcomed our sweet son, Jones West Johnson, into the world,” Maynard Jones captioned a carousel of photos of Jones and the entire family.
“During my surgery we learned that he was born with Down Syndrome, and while it was certainly a surprise, we have so much peace in God’s perfect plan and know Jones is going to be a blessing to our family,” she revealed. “He was in the NICU for a little over a month and is thankfully now home in all the chaos and we couldn’t love him more.”
Emily concluded, “Thank you to everyone at @levinechildrens for all that you did for our family. Im so happy to finally share the news and can share all the pictures with you guys! He’s absolutely the cherry on top.”
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