Soap star Mikey North has welcomed his first child.
The 30 year old, who is best know for his role as Gary Windass in ITV's Coronation Street, opened up to OK! magazine about the gruelling labour his wife Rachael went through to bring little Archie into the world back on 10th November 2016, saying that he felt 'so proud' of her.
'The labour lasted around 20 hours. But it was just constant. There was no respite,' he explained. 'I thought there would be some chance to rest. It was just full on for nearly a day. But I just felt so proud of Rachael.'
To add to the stress, an episiotomy cut went through Rachael's vein, causing her to lose 1.5 litres of blood.
'When you see your wife going through all of that, I just felt so proud. It’s the most proud I have been of anything,' he continued. 'Once I could see Archie was fine I was more worried about Rach. The amount of blood was unbelievable.'
'It's just amazing seeing a human coming out of another human, if that makes sense!' he added. 'I cried, obviously. But it was overwhelming.'
The pair first announced that they were expecting on October 2016, with Mikey saying he was 'amazed' at the happy news.
'It's such a big miracle to happen in the first place. You find out and realise that your life is going to change forever.'
Rachael explained: 'I was doing tests for a week before because I was convinced I was pregnant, but they kept saying negative. But I just felt different.'
When the news was finally confirmed, Mikey said: 'We were both feeling emotional but, for once, I didn't cry. That makes a change – I must be starting to man up in my old age!'
Archie's due date means it's likely that he was conceived on Mikey and Rachael's wedding night in January of last year.
'Judging by the date that the baby's due, we think we conceived on our wedding night! Which I do remember – just about!' he joked. 'We are really fortunate. We weren't expecting it to happen as soon as it did.'
Rachael told the mag that she had a feeling that they would be having a boy all along, with Mikey adding: 'Rach has always said she'll have two boys and I've thought the same. I know it's down to luck in the end, but we were always convinced that it would be a boy.'
When asked what he thinks his son will inherit from him, the actor added: 'He's probably going to take after his dad and be a sleepwalker!
'The other night I went to sleep in the spare room, so as not to disturb Rach, and I woke up in the street wrapped up in the duvet. I'd managed to turn off the burglar alarm before going out of the house, too!'
Read Mikey and Rachael's full interview in this week's issue of OK! magazine, on sale now
