Randy Rogers: Death of newborn daughter is 'heart-wrenching'

Musician Randy Rogers is speaking out for the first time since the death of his 6-day-old daughter earlier this month.

Rumer Rain was born on June 3, and Rogers and his wife Chelsea were ecstatic, he said in an interview with People.

"My other two babies have my light hair," Rogers told People. "Chelsea really wanted a baby with dark hair like her. The minute Rumer was born I was like, 'Hell, yes.' She had a full head of dark hair.'"

The moment was "full of joy" and the couple posted pictures on social media to share the news with friends.

Within hours, it was clear that something was not right. Rogers said the baby wouldn't eat and was extremely lethargic.

"She never opened her eyes," he said.

Eight hours after her birth, Rumer was placed in the NICU.

"It was heart-wrenching and grueling not knowing what was wrong," Rogers said. "She was put on a feeding tube pretty early on because she couldn't eat or swallow; and then she decided to stop breathing, and we had to put her on a vent."

The doctors diagnosed Rumer with nonketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH), a rare genetic condition that causes seizures, difficulty breathing, lethargy, muscle weakness and severe problems with learning and development.

On June 10, The Randy Rogers Band, especially popular in Texas, confirmed on Twitter that the baby died.

The couple lost their daughter six days after she was born. Despite the devastating loss, Rogers says he is thankful that doctors were able to identify that he and his wife carry the recessive gene for NKH, so they do not pass the trait along to future children.

"Now because my daughter died and we now know we carry this gene, no one else in our family will have to have that happen to them, and science is to thank for that," Rogers told People.

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