Chrissy Teigen Opens Up About Her First C-Section with Daughter Esti: 'I Was Taking Pictures'

Photo: chrissy teigen instagram

Chrissy Teigen’s experience giving birth to daughterEsti Maxinewas a moment she’ll never forget.

While speaking with PEOPLE about her work with Cord Blood Registry to encourage parents to store newborn stemcells, the mom of three, 37, shared new details about her first cesarean section, and why she was “so excited” about the surgery.

“I was kind of excited because I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve done the vaginal thing twice. Let’s try this,’ " she says of her previous births with daughterLuna Simone, 7 next month, and sonMiles Theodore, 4½. “I really love surgery.”

“I like that I’ve seen both experiences,” she adds.

“The incision is a lot and you never know how your stomach’s going to come together,” she recalls of the surgery. “I think your organs are on the table for a second, but that to me is so cool. I was taking pictures above the seat. I have the craziest pictures of the cord and everything.”

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Cord Blood Registry

Teigen also opened up about her work with Cord Blood Registry, sharing why she finds banking cord blood and tissue a “fascinating process” she “truly believes in.”

“It was just so cool to me to learn about. [My OB-GYN] told me that they clip off a three, four-inch piece of the umbilical cord. And that little piece is full of millions of stem cells and cord blood tissue that they can use to treat over 80 different conditions now,” she explains. “It’s insane. Cerebral palsy, cancer, leukemia, a lot of autoimmune diseases.”

“To know that you can do that and then be able to help not only that child whose cord blood you banked but their siblings and even yourself, it’s just important,” she adds.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen with their kids.Chrissy Teigen Instagram

“We handed it over right in that [delivery] room,” Teigen recalls. “[The doctor] popped it open, opened a little cup, and then it was done. It couldn’t have been easier.”

“It’s currently sitting in a facility in Arizona right now just waiting to be used,” she continues. “It’s very cool to me, knowing that every few years things can change, too, and they’re going to have more conditions that can be treated. It’s so wonderful.”

“Daddy sheds nightly tears of joy seeing Luna and Miles so full of love, and I am learning you still need diapers with a c-section!? We are in bliss,” Teigen said. “Thank you for all the love and well wishes - we feel it all! X.”

For more on Teigen’s family of five, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

source: people.com