Selling Sunset alum Maya Vander is opening up about welcoming her baby girl.
Last month, the luxury real estate pro, 41, revealed to PEOPLE exclusively that she welcomed daughter Emma Reign with husband David Miller. Vander tells PEOPLE that after her "public" pregnancy loss at 38 weeks in late 2021, she wanted to keep the news close this time around.
"I didn't know how this pregnancy would go and things obviously happen, I learned, unfortunately. I decided to just keep it quiet mostly, I didn't want to do just anything and I wanted to just make sure everything is going well and the baby's healthy and the delivery is healthy and everything is fine before going public about it all."
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Maya Vander and Dave Miller baby photos
SIMPLY DREAMY PHOTOGRAPHY
Maya Vander Welcomes a Baby Girl After Late-Term Pregnancy Loss: 'Feeling So Much Relief' (Exclusive)
Vander says fans started getting suspicious as she posted recent real estate videos, but she waited until she was ready to make the reveal, adding, "It was just the right decision for me at the time."
The realtor's pregnancy with Emma — who joins daughter Elle, 3, and son Aiden, 4 — was "great" and "checked all the boxes."
"I felt healthy, I worked out. I ate well and besides minor symptoms like fatigue and low energy in the beginning, and feeling ready to have the baby at the end, it was great."
"This pregnancy, in particular, because of my late loss last year, it was a bit more — I wouldn't call it anxiety because I'm a pretty relaxed person — I was just a little more cautious and worried because I learned that you can lose a baby, no matter how far along you are, even if things are going the way they should be."
To prepare, Vander underwent "way more" monitoring throughout her pregnancy than the previous ones, giving birth to Emma after being induced at 37 weeks.
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Maya Vander and Dave Miller
COURTESY MAYA VANDER AND DAVE MILLER
"I did everything I could, the doctors did everything they could, to make sure we're not going to have any problems again. It was helpful, having more checkups and so on."
In the mom's mind, she was already picturing her third baby when she lost her son Mason in December 2021. Even after the loss, the desire to grow her family remained.
"People also joke to me that, 'Maya is always pregnant' but I say I'm 41 years old. I was pregnant technically seven times between miscarriages and unfortunately the stillbirth, which is really the next level of a loss, and I have three kids to show for it," she explains to PEOPLE.
"I knew that once I lost my son that I wanted to get pregnant as soon as I can. People think it's crazy but again, it's really easy to judge from the outside," she says.
"When I lost my son Mason I was mentally prepared to have three kids, and it was very difficult for me to just let go of that," she adds. "I could have said, 'I have a boy and a girl. They're healthy and happy. Let me just move on and forget about it,' " she continues.
"I had a huge voice that — I think unless you experience something like that it's very hard to explain because most people will say you’re lucky and just leave it, be okay with what you have. But it's very hard to move on after you lost the baby, so late in pregnancy. Something was really missing."
"It was a big hole in my heart, which I still have that hole but I feel like with my third baby now, I just have a better experience in the hospital, a better ending and I'm happy. I wanted three kids and now it's completed, and I'm very thankful."
With the support of her husband and family, Vander decided to try again, keeping her focus on Elle and Aiden as she did.
"My kids keep me super busy. They don't understand what happened with the loss last year. We talk about my son all the time, but they don't understand because they're only three and four years old," she shares. "But I'm very close to my family, and I've got great friends who have really been there for me throughout this process — as well as my doctors with all my kids. People have shown so much love and support and I appreciate that."
Now that their baby sister is home, the kids have been "so excited" to get to know her.
Maya Vander and Dave Miller family photos
SIMPLY DREAMY PHOTOGRAPHY
"My daughter is very, very loving, very sweet. My son is engaged less — obviously, he was excited but he doesn't do much with us because babies are busy eating and sleeping so he can't play with her yet. But they've been great, and I feel that my family is now complete and it put me a little bit more at ease after last year’s loss."
Emma has been "a breeze" as she's settled into the family. "People ask me if I have a night nurse or all that. I love waking up and feeding her. She's also such a good baby. She eats every three, four hours, so I get my sleep. I get my rest. I enjoy cuddling with her. I have little children, but you forget how small they are when they are born. She was still very little compared to my other kids."
"In a crazy way, if I knew for a fact that I'm not gonna have another miscarriage, or God forbid, stillbirth and I was younger, maybe I would even go for a fourth, which I never imagined in my life I would say that," Vander adds. "It's just nice to cuddle with her while she's so little. I really feel like she's my miracle baby."
Celebrating the "precious" newborn stage, Vander also immediately began figuring out how to manage her personal life and her professional life as she shifts to being a mom of three.
"My kids go to school, I usually pick them up around 4:30. And once I pick them up, I’m with them until they go to bed," she shares. "I just hired someone to help with my daughter four days a week for a few hours so I can do what I need to do with real estate, so I can be present both at home and with my clients. I think it's very difficult to be a full-time working mom. It’s all about finding balance and the right limit."
"I think I’m doing a good job, I’m not getting overwhelmed and I’ve been pretty good with prioritizing things each day," she continues. "Some days are less crazy than others, but I think real estate is a great profession to be in as a mom because I’m my own boss and set my own schedule."
Maya Vander and Chrishell Stause in episode 9 of Selling Sunset: Season 5
NETFLIX
This summer, Vander will shift into mom mode, taking care of the older ones whenever they aren't in summer camp while bonding with Emma.
"I'm definitely more of a full-time mom again in the summer," she shares. "We're not ready to start traveling with this little one, so we're only doing a quick vacation to California in August, all of us and the baby and my dog, so we'll see how that goes."
She also hopes for a little downtime, to catch her cameo in season 6 of Selling Sunset, which she left full-time last season.
"I didn't even watch it yet because I don't have the time!" she laughs. "I've got to find the time since everyone's already talking about it."
And as for a possible return to the show? "I’m like 'You know what, guys? I’ll do a FaceTime,' Maybe I’ll do more, we’ll see. But they've got to tone down this drama for me to do another [season]. We’ll see."
https://people.com/selling-sunset-maya-vander-welcoming-baby-after-losing-son-38-weeks-pregnant-7514841
