From PEOPLE Magazine Click to enlarge
Wearing the look of a man in love as he cradles his daughter Dylan River, Joe Nichols confesses he's loath to put her down. "We got the Porsche of baby monitors, but we've never used it because she's never slept in the crib," says the Tyler, Texas-based country star, adding that he plans to keep the device: "It might come in handy when she's a teenager!"

Nichols can joke now, but there's a reason why he and his wife, Heather, are so protective: Before Dylan was born April 17, Heather suffered five miscarriages within as many years. "We had no idea the first miscarriage was going to be the start of something that would become such a huge part of our lives," says the singer, 35.

The ordeal tested not only their relationship and their faith but also, admits Nichols, his sobriety. (He entered rehab for alcoholism in 2007.) Rather than dwell on his demons, he says, "my struggles with sobriety seem so small compared to what Heather went through to have a baby." The singer was on the road when his wife, 35-who suffers from a clotting disorder and other fertility-compromising conditions-underwent intrauterine insemination using his stored sperm to conceive Dylan. They remained cautious. "We had to work hard to stay ahead of our own negative thoughts," explains Nichols. But not anymore. Says Heather: "Watching Joe give Dylan River her first bath, I could see the years of love and laughter to come."

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  • Reported by Kay West.