Former Emmerdale and Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley has revealed her baby girl's name and the sweet meaning behind it weeks after welcoming her second-born.
The soap star, who played prison guard Abi Peterson in 20 episodes of Emmerdale in 2010 and later Eva Price in Coronation Street from 2011 to 2018, also gave fans a first look at her new-born daughter.
Catherine announced the safe arrival of her baby girl on Instagram on Thursday (April 21) alongside a sneak peak of the new-born's tiny feet.
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Taking to Instagram, the new mum-of-two penned: "We are so happy to announce that our beautiful daughter has arrived, we are grateful beyond words and feel overjoyed that our family is complete."
38-year-old Catherine announced the joyous news that she was expecting her second child with husband Tom Pitfield back in October.
Cath and Tom, who also share a son together, seven-year-old son Alfie, said at the time of announcement that they felt "utterly blessed" but that keeping the exciting news a secret had been "tough".
And now the actress, who went on to play Karen Norris in the sitcom Scarborough following her soap opera days, has revealed that the couple have named their new bundle of joy Iris Ella.
In an interview with Hello! magazine Cath revealed that she played a character called Iris Moss in the BBC drama Lilies in 2007 and she had "loved it ever since".
Cath and Tom chose the name Ella as a middle name for their new daughter as a tribute to Pitfield’s late grandmother.
The actress also shared the first image of her baby girl as part of a family photoshoot with the magazine at her home in Cheshire alongside her husband and son Alfie.
She said: "These first few weeks have been so precious. I’ve been living my best life. Iris will find her own way and decide what she likes. But for now, I’m going with the pink. I am a very girlie girl."
Iris Ella was born on April 19 at St Mary’s in Manchester weighing 8lb, Cath, who used hypnobirthing and meditation music during the birth, revealed she was two weeks overdue and so had to be induced. She explained that it remained a slow progress at the hospital until suddenly she felt the baby arriving and then she was born "within minutes".
She continued: "Even though it was super-fast and we were both in complete shock, it was a beautiful birth." Cath also said she feels more relaxed with her second child than they did with Alfie, added: “With our first baby, we didn’t have a Scooby-Doo what we were doing and I think I tried to cope on my own.
"If you talk to other mums, it can really help." The former soap star also suffered from insomnia and hyperemesis gravidarum – severe nausea and vomiting – during her pregnancy. She said: “With no sleep, you just can’t function. I wasn’t socialising. Even when my friends said 'Let’s do a baby shower,' I said 'I can’t. I’ve not got it in me.'"
Catherine shared one of the pictures from her Hello! shoot on Instagram, she captioned the post: "So… here she is, we can't wait for you to meet our daughter. We are so in love . Grateful every single day."
The comments section was quickly flooded with well wishes and congratulations for the now family of four. Former Emmerdale co-star Gemma Atkinson said: "She’s beautiful!" Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas wrote: "A huge congratulations."
Corrie's Helen Flanagan wrote: "Beautiful," while Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins commented: "Big congratulations!!! Gorgeous girl."
You can visit our Emmerdale homepage to find the latest gossip about the soap and its stars. There you'll also find our Emmerdale features and news about the show's 50th anniversary plans.
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