Emmy Russell and Tyler Ward shared another health update after welcoming Baby No. 1.

Singer-songwriters Russell, 26, and Ward, 40, welcomed their newborn daughter on Friday, January 31. Russell later said in an update from the hospital that she’d have to get a blood transfusion. Ward posted the update for Russell on Sunday evening (February 2), and said “it was a really, really tough situation.”

Russell confirmed in the latest update on Instagram on Wednesday (February 5) that “we made it back yesterday from the hospital.” Ward asked permission to share some of the clips he recorded from the hospital, and Russell agreed. She said she’s feeling “so much better” after the blood transfusion, though she’s “been missing out on the baby and holding her, been having mental breakdowns like every five seconds.

“I’m just really grateful for all those prayers, and just going through all the comments,” Russell said. “It just made me cry because I was just seeing how many moms go through just all that struggle and hard pregnancies, and hard birth, hard labor and deliveries. Having a baby is so scary.”

The former American Idol finalist praised Ward as “a trooper.” Russell said Ward “has changed every diaper, he fed her when I couldn’t feed her, literally has been so hands-on.” She wrote in her caption: “Never knew how real this struggle could be. Thank you all for your prayers ❤️❤️, seriously!!”

The couple previously shared that they went to the hospital on the evening of Wednesday, January 29, and their daughter arrived the morning of Friday, January 31. Russell shared a sweet glimpse of her relationship with Ward that Thursday evening (January 30) to mark “the last night it’s just us.”

Russell announced her pregnancy when she and her mother, Patsy Russell, joined podcast host Jennifer Vickery Smith on an episode of Got It From My Momma, recorded live on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Y’all, me and Tyler are expecting a baby girl,” she told the live audience as she publicly debuted her baby bump for the first time. She gushed, “I’m so excited. Right out of American Idol, I didn’t know. So, you know, that’s kind of been the journey. So I’m so excited. I’m so looking forward to it. …This is the first time I’m actually fully announcing that. I thought it was fitting for this.”

Together, the mother-daughter duo also spoke about their lives as the daughter and granddaughter of late legend Loretta Lynn. Russell previously shared how her grandmother inspired and empowered her as a singer and a songwriter, and on American Idol, she performed a moving rendition of “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” She said at that time that she’s “proud to be a coal miner’s great granddaughter.”

Russell is one of several artists to welcome a baby in 2025, along with Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney, Sam Hunt, Elle King, Lauren Alaina and more See the pregnancy announcements here.

John E. Kage