“We are happy to announce the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, born on Saturday, January 7, 2012,” the couple said, confirming the news in a joint statement Monday. “Her birth was emotional and extremely peaceful – we are in heaven.”
“She was delivered naturally at a healthy 7 lbs.,” the statement adds, dispelling rumors that the birth was by scheduled cesarean.
“It was the best experience of both of our lives,” continue Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who has already released a song devoted to his baby girl. “We are thankful to everyone for all your prayers, well wishes, love and support.”
Following Knowles’s highly publicized childbirth, rumors swirled about special perks she received at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital, including having a floor to herself.
“The suggestion that the couple paid $1.3 million to rent an entire maternity floor is simply not true,” Lenox Hill Hospital Executive Director Frank Danza said in a statement Monday.
“The family is housed in an executive suite at the hospital and is being billed the standard rate for those accommodations. Our executive suites are available for any patient, including the food service and amenities provided to the Carter family.”
In response to reports that Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s presence has stopped visitors from being able to see relatives and even disrupted a father’s visit with his newborn twins in the neonatal intensive care unit, Danza says such stories are untrue.
“We have made every effort to ensure minimal disruption to other families experiencing the births of their own children over the past three days,” he explains.
“No security plan that we or the Carters’ security team put in place would have prevented or delayed families from gaining access to the NICU, and to date, no families have complained to the hospital about being denied access to the NICU.”
