The Amazing Race’s Hayden & Aaron Open Up About Their Daughter’s Critical Condition

The Amazing Race’s Hayden Kristianson and Aaron Crumbaugh were thrilled to learn from an ultrasound that they were going to have a girl when Hayden was 20 weeks pregnant. But their excitement turned to fear when the test also revealed that their daughter had a dangerous birth defect. “I cried for three weeks straight,” Hayden tells In Touch, as she and Aaron open up about a parent’s worst nightmare. Doctors diagnosed the baby with gastroschisis — a potentially deadly birth defect that affects one in 5,000 babies. “Her abdomen had an opening in it which caused some of her intestines to remain outside of her body,” explains Hayden. “It was very scary.”

As soon as Kaiya Rachel was born on December 7, she was whisked away to a stabilization room where a neonatologist was waiting. “Aaron and I didn’t even get to see her,” says Hayden about their 6-pound, 5-ounce bundle of joy. “But as soon as we heard her little cry, we knew she was going to be okay.” But Hayden still had to wait three more days to meet her daughter. “She needed to be transported to Children’s Memorial Hospital,” says Hayden. “Kaiya had about two feet of intestines and a little bit of her colon outside of her body,” adds model/chef Aaron. Twenty-four days later — on New Year’s Eve — their baby girl was finally released from the hospital. “I can’t even begin to describe the joy we felt bringing her home. We realize how blessed we are,” says Hayden. “