David Henrie and wife Maria Cahill have welcomed their rainbow baby after suffering a pregnancy loss in 2023.
“Hi guys! Maria here. David graciously let me take over his phone to write our ‘baby is finally here’ announcement post,” Cahill, 35, wrote in a post shared via her husband’s Instagram page on Thursday, September 3, alongside a photo showing her in a hospital bed. In the snap, Cahill held her newborn while surrounded by Henrie, 37, and their kids Pia, 7, James, 5, and Gemma, 3.
The announcement continued, “Peter Henrie was born September 2nd, taking his own sweet time, a week late, at a whopping 10lbs 4oz. God bless a woman’s pelvis. Truly.”
Cahill then revealed that Peter is their “rainbow baby” following the loss of their daughter Isabel three years ago.
“This topic is very meaningful to me because while we talk a lot about rainbow babies, rarely do we see the actual reality of both sides of that rainbow,” she wrote. “November of 2023, we buried Isabel. I lost her in my second trimester to a bacteria in severe food poisoning that was literally the most traumatic experience of my life: home alone, kids asleep in the rooms next door, David on a flight. Complete nightmare fuel for the next three years.”
Cahill called Peter’s arrival a “redemptive” experience for her family.
“Especially our kids, who prayed every single day quite directly and (slightly) morbidly ‘that Peter doesn’t die.’ We are so immensely grateful that he’s here,” she continued. “A lot of primary, secondary and unexplained types of infertility journeys are silent, unseen and lonely for the countless women who experience them. Women, for example, who are asked ‘when are you having kids’ when all they want is nothing more but don’t want/feel the need to explain to someone the entire story.”
Cahill concluded with a message to women who are struggling with infertility.
“Thinking of you women today — your stories, like mine, are not defined by these struggles or by the amount of kids we can or can’t have,” she wrote. “September 2nd was a massive day of redemption for our family, and we praying today specifically for all you who are looking for your own redemptive birth, whatever that looks like for your family. Sending you a big hug ❤️.”
Henrie and Cahill announced in April that they had another baby on the way. Cahill previously experienced multiple pregnancy losses while expanding the pair’s family.
“Long story short, Maria and I had made peace with the idea that the ‘big family’ dream might not be God’s plan for us,” Henrie wrote via Instagram earlier this year. “Which was fine, we’re grateful for our 3! Through a miraculous encounter that would have never happened without @seekingbeauty.ewtn in Seville, Spain, and the intercession of St. Teresa of Avila, we are having our 4th! He is risen. Truly, He is risen. King of kings.”
Cahill later edited the post’s caption with her own statement about fertility issues.
“While I’m so excited for David to share this with you, I also know that it can be so hard to read pregnancy announcements when you’re the one that’s trying to have a baby and nothing seems to be working,” she wrote. “I’ve been there — trying to be happy for others but simultaneously grieving a happiness that I wish could have been mine.”
She continued, “While I’m so overjoyed to add a brother to our family, I can’t help but think of all of you women. Know that I see you all, am thinking of you today, and are praying hard for your future pregnancies. It took many years for me to come to terms with letting go of what I pictured as my ‘perfect family’ but I PROMISE you that God’s will for us (or what He allows to happen) is beyond our understanding and one day, things will hopefully make sense. Love you, ladies. ❤️.”
