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As we told you recently, singer Ameriie and husband Lenny Nicholson quietly welcomed a baby boy in May named River Rowe Charles L. Nicholson. But the singer isn’t being quiet any longer, as she shared all the details of her birthing story with fans via a nearly hour-long video on her YouTube page.

But before she could talk about the delivery, the 38-year-old beauty had to take everyone back to September 2015. It was during that time the star had a large fibroid removed, and the effects of that procedure would have an impact on her future delivery.

Ameriie hadn’t seen any major red flags that would have made her think that she had a fibroid, but after a doctor felt something large and ordered an ultrasound, she would get quite the shocking news.

“I didn’t even know it was there, which is quite unusual because it was almost the size of a grapefruit,” she said.

The fibroid, as she described its placement, was on top of her uterus and near the back. And while the most inconvenience she thought it brought was a heavier and longer period, she was instructed to have it removed for the sake of having a smooth pregnancy in the future.

“Because of the size and because fibroids get bigger when you’re pregnant,” she said, “it would get really uncomfortable and possibly cause early delivery.”

So she went through with the myomectomy that year and had a rough recovery, but all went well.

Fast forward to 2017, and she was pregnant and hopeful that she could have a vaginal birth. But her doctor told her that it would be “too dangerous.” The type of vertical incision she had for her fibroid removal surgery put her at risk for the possibility of a uterine rupture if she tried to give birth vaginally.

After initially wanting to push the issue, the singer adjusted to the idea of having a C-section, and hers was scheduled for 39 weeks into her pregnancy. The delivery, though nerve-wrecking for her, went well. Baby River came out to the tunes of Frank Sinatra and some classical music (because her doctors allowed her to have a playlist). And when he made his arrival into the world, even with his eye closed, he reached out for his mother.

“He was like reaching out to me and it was the most amazing thing,” she said.

“He put his hand against the clear drape, and I had my hand there and he grasped my finger. He wrapped his hand around my finger. I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life.”

Afterward, Ameriie found that the healing process for her Cesarean was much easier than the myomectomy, probably because the removal of her fibroid took longer than the C-section. Also, her abdominal muscles weren’t cut to retrieve the baby, so that made things better in terms of recovery. And it also helped that River was small, even though she admitted that she worried her baby boy was too small.

“Our son was born 6 pounds and 12.8 ounces. So he was smaller, he wasn’t too big,” she said. “He felt so fragile. I was kind of looking forward to him gaining a little weight because I just felt nervous because he was so small.”

Not too long after, she was back on her feet and feeling good. The star has her pre-baby workouts to partially thank for that.

“I worked out my legs,” she said of her fitness regimen during pregnancy. “I did planks until it wasn’t so comfortable and wasn’t so safe. Somewhere in the second trimester.”

And while she didn’t do running (she wanted to avoid the up and down force on her growing breasts, as well as knee strain), she did cycling, elliptical, body weight and strength training workouts. But the thing that most prepared her for birth and helped her feel her best? Walking.

“I felt like it was more effective than anything else I’d done.”

And it seems to have helped her get back close to her pre-baby weight a lot faster.

She said she weighed 148 pounds after having River. Six weeks later, she’s at 126 pounds — five pounds away from her pre-baby weight of 121. She still does have a small “tummy,” but it’s much smaller than it was right after giving birth.

“They tell you all the time that you’re going to look pregnant after you’re finished, but I didn’t think I was going to look that pregnant,” she said. “I literally looked like I was six months pregnant.”

But the tummy, scars and weight gain are all worth it to the singer.

“River, we love you and we’re so honored to be your parents, to be your foundation and your rock in this thing called life,” she wrote when sharing his birth announcement. “God bless you, our beautiful son.”

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