“We’re pregnant.” Those are the first two words country singer Granger Smith wrote when announcing the good news to the world that he and his wife Amber Smith are expecting their fourth child. This news comes 21 months after Granger and Amber lost their 3-year-old little boy, River Smith, in a tragic drowning accident.
River passed away on June 6, 2019. Now, the family is opening up about their decision to grow their family following the tragedy. As Granger revealed in his Instagram post, he and Amber are expecting another little boy and he is due to be born in August.
“I don’t have many words for this video. Life isn’t perfect. Sometimes it’s beat up and broken but it’s NEVER hopeless. God promises that,” Granger wrote on Instagram. “Our story isn’t finished yet, and neither is yours! Through our suffering and joy, God’s glory radiates through it all!”
Granger And Amber Smith Announce Rainbow Baby
Additionally, in an interview with People, Granger and Amber opened up about their decision to get pregnant again following River’s passing. As Amber revealed, the couple got pregnant with River, who they thought would be their last child. And as a result of that, following River’s birth, she and Granger decided that Amber would have her tubes tied.
However, following the surgery and River’s passing, Granger admitted that he “still had love to give as a father” and despite the procedure being irreversible, the couple looked into their options to grow their family. It was revealed another round of IVF could mean that she could carry another child.
Sadly, as People reported, their first round of IVF ended in a miscarriage. “I have had friends who have gone through miscarriages and it’s one of those things that until you go through it, you have no idea … what that pain is, not only emotionally but physically. I had no idea of the pain you go through for hours,” Amber told People.
“And sometimes it takes days or weeks. I just have a whole new respect and compassion for women who experience this. And it’s so much more common than we know of.” The parents made the decision to not tell their two oldest children about the miscarriage until they had good news to share immediately after.
Thankfully, their second embryo resulted in a successful pregnancy. “They’re so excited. Lincoln kisses my belly every morning and always says goodbye whenever he goes to school,” Amber said of her son and daughter’s reaction to the news. “London is excited, too, but [Lincoln] just can’t wait for a little brother.”
In fact, it was a conversation Lincoln and Granger had during a camping trip that made Granger start to think another little one may be just what they needed. Lincoln asked his father if God only made some of the trees while man made some of the other trees, knowing that people sometimes planted trees. “And I answered without even thinking, ‘No, buddy. God makes all the trees, but sometimes man needs to plant the seeds.’ It was kind of profound. It was a deep answer that I didn’t even really think about.”
And while this little boy will never replace River, Granger admitted that in the months following the tragedy, he knew his family needed a fresh start.
“We didn’t need to forget anything — we just needed a new change of pace where we’re really reestablishing new roots on a new piece of land with some new neighbors, a new grocery store, and a new way to work. And getting us out of the rut that it’s easy to get into, especially after a tragedy, where you start driving the same road and you start thinking the same thoughts and you kind of get sucked into the same path.”
Granger Smith
And Amber agreed that they needed to make sure they weren’t “stuck in our grief.” She admitted that these decisions were made so that they would continue to “grow as people and be the best parents that we can be for London and Lincoln.” But regardless of the steps the Smiths are taking to move forward, River remains a focal point in their lives. And it’s not lost on them that the reason why this little boy now exists is because of River.
“The craziest thing about this pregnancy, but so hard to understand with our human brains, [is that this baby] will exist on Earth because another child doesn’t. And I haven’t completely unpacked that idea. And it’s so profound to think that as this baby grows and gets older, that everything that he does and that purpose and meaning in his life is because another child was before him that paved the way for that. We’ll think about that till the day we die, I’m sure.”
Granger Smith
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And they hope to raise this little boy with a balance of that knowledge. The couple admitted that they are still grieving the loss of River and admit that they likely will be for the rest of their lives, but they couldn’t be happier about welcoming their soon-to-be third son into the world. And we couldn’t be happier for them. Congratulations to the Smith family.
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