A mother of 11 who has just given 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 to her newest 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 by emergency C-section is already hoping to have a 12th 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 in the future.

Courtney Rogers, 36, from Santa Fe County, New Mexico, admitted she will be sad when she finally stops having 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.

She has rarely been without a bump or a new𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in the 13 years since marrying church pastor husband Chris Rogers, 32.

Courtney delivered her 11th 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, Caris Audrey, on November 28, 2020, and needed an emergency C-section, because her 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 was in distress and doctors feared her daughter was not getting enough oxygen.

Courtney Rogers, 36, from Santa Fe County, New Mexico has just given 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 to her newest 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 by emergency C-section is already hoping to have a 12th 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 in the future

Once delivered, Caris, her biggest ever 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 at 9lb 3oz, needed to spend 15 days in the new𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 intensive care unit (NICU).

Courtney said of the 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡: ‘I was more scared for Caris than for any of her brothers and sisters.

That was the scariest part because you just want to make sure your 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 is alright.’

But now Caris is happily home, bonding with her six brothers and four sisters, all aged between 10 and one.

Courtney is thinking of adding to her brood, although this time she would like a break to recover first.

She has rarely been without a bump or a new𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in the 13 years since marrying church pastor husband Chris Rogers, 32

She said: ‘I love being a mother and I would really like to have another one. We’ll probably wait a year or two to try.’

Courtney documents life on the family’s 12-acre plot on her Instagram page @littlehouseinthehighdesert.

She shares the plot with Chris and their 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren – Clint, 10, Clay, nine, Cade, eight, Callie, seven, Cash, six, twins Colt and Case, five, Calena, three, Caydie, two, Coralee, 19 months, and now Caris, aged just seven weeks.

She admitted she has faced some online criticism, with people questioning how the couple afford to care for their 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, or how they manage to give them all enough attention.

But Courtney said: ‘They don’t know how much income we have, or that I’ve never sent the kids to day care or school.’

Newest addition Caris needed to spend 15 days in the new𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 intensive care unit (NICU) but now she is happily home, bonding with her six brothers and four sisters, all aged between 10 and one

The stay-at-home mother drives a 15-seater van to transport her home-educated family.

She said: ‘I love having babies and seeing the kids bonding, having fun and playing together.

‘Ever since I became a mother, it’s just become my life and I enjoy it and love every minute.

‘Even though I have so many kids, I’m the type who will be sad when I have my last one and want to cherish each moment.’

For 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 number 11, she was hoping for a straight-forward vaginal 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 – with only Callie and twins Colt and Case delivered by C-section previously.

Courtney said: ‘I was more scared for Caris than for any of her brothers and sisters’ (Courtney is pictured holding Caris for the first time)

But on November 27, when she was eight days overdue, Courtney began ‘getting anxious’, especially as, apart from Clay who was 12 days late, all her 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren had been 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 on or close to their due dates.

She said: ‘I wanted to have it over with.’

So Chris drove her to hospital in Albuquerque, where she was induced at around 8pm that evening.

But eight hours later, at 4am, when she was fully dilated, Courtney knew from her past 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡s that something was not right.

She explained: ‘I’d had an epidural so I didn’t have a lot of pain, but I could also tell that the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 wasn’t down there to push because, of course, I know what that feels like.

Courtney lives on 12-acres of land with her husband Chris and 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren – Clint, 10, Clay, nine, Cade, eight, Callie, seven, Cash, six, twins Colt and Case, five, Calena, three, Caydie, two, Coralee, 19 months, and now Caris, aged just seven weeks.

‘They told me to start pushing as I was 10cm dilated. I kept telling the midwife, “She’s not down there, I don’t feel anything”, but I pushed anyway for about 40-45 minutes.

‘That’s when things went bad and we had to rush to have an emergency C-section. The 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 wasn’t in the 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 canal and we couldn’t get her in there.

‘She started getting into distress and they said she wasn’t getting oxygen.

‘I knew the C-section had to happen but at the same time I thought, “I didn’t plan this at all.”‘

At 5.30am, Caris was delivered and was immediately whisked away to the NICU to be given oxygen via a ventilator.

Courtney hit back at criticisms of her family set-up, saying she was used to negative attention

She also needed to be tested to see if she had brain damage, as medics believed she had been starved of oxygen for several minutes during the 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 – potentially due to her positioning.

Courtney said: ‘Thankfully they didn’t really find any damage – they just saw some small areas of concern and think hopefully, with her being so young, the areas of the brain will grow over that.

‘They said the worst-case scenario would be that she might have some delays.

‘Of course, at this age, you don’t know – it could be motor delays, it could be speech, or she could be absolutely fine. It’s just one of those things you won’t know until time goes on.’

After a few days, Caris stopped needing a high amount of oxygen, and after 15 days – while still on a very low flow of oxygen delivered through a nasal tube – she was allowed home, where she was greeted by her excited siblings.

After a few days, Caris stopped needing a high amount of oxygen from the ventilator

‘It was chaos,’ Courtney laughed. ‘They were so excited to meet her and excited for Christmas, but they were also a bit confused by the oxygen tubes she had.’

And despite her dramatic start in life, Caris, who came off the oxygen altogether at five and a half weeks, is proving a relaxed new addition to the family.

‘She’s an easy 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦,’ Courtney said. ‘She’s very chilled out and eats well and sleeps through the night. If she fusses, she relaxes when you pick her up.’

Caris is particularly special to Courtney because, despite being 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 nine days late, she was actually due on November 19 – when a 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 the mum lost during an earlier pregnancy was also due.

Courtney said: ‘I had a miscarriage five years ago this coming May. This 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 would have been due on or very close to the same date Caris was due.

After 15 days – while still on a very low flow of oxygen delivered through a nasal tube – she was allowed home, where she was greeted by her excited siblings

‘They were due at exactly the same time, so it was quite a meaningful 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 for me.’

Courtney needed time to recover after the 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡, which had left her with some pain following the C-section, and a scar, which she said is healing well.

She said: ‘As long as I get some sleep, I’m not too tired. The scar isn’t bothering me as much as the other times.’

Luckily, she and Chris had lots of family support to help them through the first few weeks, with grandparents and Chris’ sister stepping in to help care for the older 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.

She has rarely been without a bump or a new𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in the 13 years since marrying church pastor husband Chris Rogers, 32

Now Courtney is even determined to have another 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, due to her love of being a mother, though she admitted: ‘With what happened we’re definitely going to wait longer.’

Although she and Chris love having such a big family, in some ways it has come as a surprise to Courtney.

She said: ‘I don’t know why I like it so much – I don’t think I ever imagined having this many 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren when we got married.

‘I just knew that I wanted 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren and when I became a mother, I realised how much I loved it.’

Now the clan is adjusting well to being a family of 13 and settling back into an everyday routine, with the parents home-educating all the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren over four or five years old – and working on their small farm.

And despite her dramatic start in life, Caris, who came off the oxygen altogether at five and a half weeks, is proving a relaxed new addition to the family as Courtney said she is an ‘easy 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦’

Courtney said she didn’t imagine having so many 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren when she first married Chris

Courtney said: ‘We do plan on homeschooling all of them, so we haven’t been affected at all by the school closures in the pandemic.

‘They get a lot of time outdoors too and this year we want to grow our farm a little bit more.

‘We weren’t impacted too much but some other big families struggled with the limits at the grocery stores – that was harder on big families because we have a lot more people to feed.

‘We are growing our farm and want to be able to produce all our own meat, so we don’t have to worry about that.

‘Now we are back in school and everybody has settled again.

Courtney said they weren’t as affected by limits at the grocery store as other big families because they ‘are growing their farm’

Courtney said they want to be able to produce all their own meat on their farm (Courtney’s shopping trolley to feed her family of 13 is pictured)

‘For the last two to three years, we do school all year. We do it in the summer and on Saturday and Sunday if we have to.

‘People do ask, “How do you get it all done?” and that’s how we do it – just whenever we can, all year long.’

The family take breaks too though – and on a recent weekend, they all piled into the van and took a trip to Texas.

Courtney said: ‘We were gone on Thursday and Friday and the kids had that time off school which makes it more flexible.’

They are settling back into an everyday routine, with the parents home-educating all the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren over four or five years old – and working on their small farm

Courtney said: ‘For the last two to three years, we do school all year. We do it in the summer and on Saturday and Sunday if we have to’

And the family is even midway through an economy drive, to cut down on their bills following Thanksgiving and Christmas – meaning they don’t go out to eat, make fun purchases or rent movies.

Courtney said: ‘It’s a month fast from those things after the holidays. The kids know about it and we explain that this month we’re going to save some money.

‘They’re fine with it but at the end of the month, they sometimes start counting down the days which is funny.

‘We still have streaming services like Amazon and YouTube, but we just don’t go out as much.’

The family is even midway through an economy drive, to cut down on their bills following Thanksgiving and Christmas – meaning they don’t go out to eat, make fun purchases or rent movies

Courtney said they have learned to ignore negative comments, adding: ‘We just learned to ignore them – people say things but they’re people who don’t even know us so how they can judge?’

And Courtney hit back at criticisms of her family set-up, saying she was used to negative attention.

She said: ‘We’ve been getting comments since the beginning because they were so close in age.

‘We just learned to ignore them – people say things but they’re people who don’t even know us so how they can judge?

‘We know we’re doing what we wanted, and we love it and we’re giving them a good life.

‘We know how we’re raising them, so we try not to let it bother us.’

The family take breaks too though – and on a recent weekend, they all piled into the van and took a trip to Texas (pictured having a BBQ)